
Class J QiLkli 

1235 



COLLECTIONS 



FROM THE 



GREEK ANTHOLOGY. 

BY THE LATE 

Rev. ROBERT BLAND, and OTHERS. 
A NEW EDITION; 



COMPRISING 



THE FRAGMENTS OF EARLY LYRIC POETRY, WITH SPECIMENS 
OF ALL THE POETS INCLUDED IN MELEAGER'S GARLAND. 



BY 

J. H. MERIVALE, Esq. F.S.A. 



HMI2Y MET ^YXHS ETI TO IINEON. 




LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR 

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMAN; AND 
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 



1833. 






^%l 



rillXTED BY RICHARD TAYLOR, 
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



IN giving to the world a new series of Trans- 
lations grounded on a work published many 
years ago, to which I was a principal contri- 
butor, in partnership with my lamented friend, 
the late Rev. Robert Bland*, it will not perhaps 
be regarded as altogether superfluous to prefix a 
short notice relative to the former publication. 



* The Rev. Robert Bland, who was also author of " Edwy 
and Elgiva" and " Sir Everard," and of "The Four Slaves of 
Cythera," besides other poetical works, died, curate of Kenil- 
worth, in 1825, when little more than forty years old, leaving 
a widow and several children to mourn his irreparable loss — a 
circumstance which I may be allowed to mention, as affording 
a motive to the present publication, in the hope of its proving a 
source of profit, however inconsiderable, intended to be applied 
exclusively in aid of the eldest son on his approaching removal 
to College from the Charter House. That, among other attain- 
ments of a more solid nature, my young friend inherits at least a 
portion of his father's talents in the art of versification, will, I 
trust, be made evident from a few pieces in the last division of 
the present volume, to which the signature R. B. is attached. 

a2 



IV ADVERTISEMENT. 

The design of exhibiting in an English version 
some of the most beautiful, or otherwise remark- 
able, of the pieces ascribed to the Minor Poets 
of Greece, more especially the writers of the 
Anthology, originated at a very early period 
with my deceased friend. He commenced the 
execution of his plan by the publication of two 
or three papers in the Monthly Magazine, be- 
ginning in March, 1805; and these became 
subsequently the groundwork of a Preface, re- 
printed without alteration in the present volume. 
The series thus commenced was continued at 
intervals during the remainder of the year 1805 
and part of 1806, under the title of " Epigrams, 
Fragments, and Fugitive Pieces, from the Greek/' 
to which was affixed the signature "Narva;" 
and in the course of the last-mentioned year, the 
greater part of those contributions, with some 
additions, were collected together and published 
in a small octavo volume, entitled, "Translations, 
chiefly from the Greek Anthology ; with Tales 
and Miscellaneous Poems," (Phillips, 1806.) 
The arrangement of Brunck and Jacobs, accord- 
ing to the names of authors, was here followed, 
with a short appendix of " Fragments from the 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Comic Poets," and with notes following the 
translation. I was myself a contributor to this 
volume, in about equal partnership ; and we 
enjoyed the valuable accession of three pieces 
(The Complaint of Danae, and Two Versions of 
the Hymn to Harmodius,) from the pen of the 
present Lord Chief Justice Denman, and of a few 
from that of our mutual friend the Rev. Francis 
Hodgson, which in the later edition were distin- 
guished by his initial. Of the success of the 
small volume thus ushered into the world, it does 
not become me to say more than that it received 
from Lord Byron, in his " English Bards and 
Scotch Reviewers," first published not long after 
it made its appearance, the compliment of a few 
lines, beginning, 

" And ye, associate Bards/' &c. 

Between the time of this first publication 
and that of the second, the joint authors, besides 
having been emboldened by the recommendation 
of the noble poet, separately, on various occasions, 
to encounter the risk of original composition, 
were prevented by other circumstances, arising 
out of occupations and engagements of the most 



VI ADVERTISEMENT. 

foreign nature, from bestowing much thought on 
the subject of republication. In the mean time, 
however, the portfolios of each had received 
large additions from the same rich storehouse 
of the Anthology, as well as from other classical 
sources, and each had continued occasionally to 
contribute to the periodicals of the day — first 
to the Monthly Magazine (as before), and after- 
wards to Dr. Aikin's Athenaeum — some of the 
fruits of their respective gleanings. I may here 
be allowed to mention, with satisfaction, that 
this example was thought worthy of imitation 
by so distinguished and elegant a scholar as 
Dr. Haygarth, with some of whose specimens, 
as printed in the last-named classical and useful, 
though short-lived, miscellany, T. have not scru- 
pled to enrich the present volume. 

It was not till 1813, that my friend and my- 
self jointly resolved on the publication of a new 
Work, which was to contain the entire substance 
of the former, together with such additions as 
each of us had since made ; and the result of this 
resolution was the production of the volume 
entitled " Collections from the Greek Anthology, 
and from the Pastoral, Elegiac, and Dramatic 



ADVERTISEMENT. Vll 

Poets of Greece, by the Rev. Robert Bland and 
others," (Murray, 1813.) This new Work, be- 
sides the insertion of the very considerable ad- 
ditions already spoken of, was constructed on 
the principle of an entirely new arrangement ; 
being divided into distinct heads or subjects — 
the Amatory — the Convivial — the Moral — the 
Sepulchral — the Descriptive — -the Dedicatory — 
and the Humorous, or Satirical — together with a 
pretty copious infusion, in the midst of one of 
these departments, of irrelevant matter, consisting 
of metrical versions of passages from the Grecian 
drama — each division being followed by notes, 
to the extent in bulk of nearly half the volume, 
and containing a variety of illustrations both in 
prose and in verse. 

The defects of such an arrangement were 
too glaring to escape the just censure of even 
the most indulgent critics, and I have not 
ceased, during the period of twenty years which 
have now elapsed since its appearance, to enter- 
tain the desire and intention, should circum- 
stances ever permit, of giving to the world a new 
edition, freed from the most striking blemishes 
as well as superfluities of the former, besides ex- 



Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. 

hibiting a more correct and classical represen- 
tation of the original Anthology, by a more 
abundant infusion of the best specimens, and by 
returning to our early plan of assigning each to 
its several author, and placing the authors them- 
selves in chronological order of succession. This 
design even acquired strength from a circum- 
stance which might be supposed to have been ra- 
ther calculated to check it, — the premature death 
of my early associate — by exciting the wish of 
doing honour to his memory, and at the same 
time (if possible) of deriving benefit to his chil- 
dren from the profits of a new undertaking. 

A constant succession of other pursuits and 
engagements occasioned the postponement, until 
the present moment, of the accomplishment of 
this long-cherished intention ; and, without fur- 
ther reflection on the past, it now remains for 
me to state shortly in what points the present 
publication will be found principally to differ 
from the two that preceded it. 

In the first place, it will be obvious that the 
present volume, although in itself complete, as 
containing specimens of all the poets whom it is 
its professed design to illustrate, comprises, ne- 



ADVERTISEMENT. IX 

vertheless, but an inferior portion either of the 
poems printed in the Work entitled " Bland's 
Collections/' or of the authors contained in that 
far larger storehouse of original poetry generally 
known under the appellation of ' ' The Greek 
Anthology." The literary history of that re- 
markable compilation, and of its various success 
sive collectors, has been already sufficiently de- 
tailed by Mr. Bland in his Preface here re- 
printed ; and from this it will be seen, without 
going into unnecessary repetition, that the por- 
tion which may be properly called Meleager's, 
though the smallest in extent, is far the most 
valuable, as exhibiting the productions of the 
better ages ; while the remainder, being spread 
over the whole extended period of Grecian de- 
generacy, from the age of Augustus to the fall of 
the Constantinopolitan Empire, must be regard- 
ed as comparatively of low estimation in the 
scale of classical excellence, although far from 
deficient in the refinements of poetical expression 
and sentiment. At the same time, all those 
specimens of the Gnomic, Elegiac, and Dramatic 
fragments of antiquity which are contained in 
our former volumes, although included by Brunck 
in his Analecta, formed no part of either of the 
a 5 



X ADVERTISEMENT. 

f Anthologies, properly so denominated. These 
are now, therefore, reserved to constitute an 
appendix to a second volume, should I receive 
sufficient encouragement to enter on such an 
undertaking. 

In using this hypothetical expression, I beg, 
however, to be considered as free from the ap- 
prehension expressed by my late colleague, of 
being numbered among those who injure the 
cause they espouse "by giving dignity to trifles." 
On the contrary, I am well convinced that no 
genuine scholar will ever regard the bulk of the 
poems which constitute what is commonly known 
as the Greek Anthology in a point of view so 
disparaging, or refuse to admit that it forms an 
essential portion of what remains to us of Grecian 
literature. 

Enough has been said to explain in what con- 
sists the principal difference above referred to ; 
and, by comparison with the edition of 1813, it 
will be found that more than three fourths of 
the contents of the present are additions to the 
former Work, and that, even as to those which 
are republished, so much of correction and 
amendment has been freely admitted as to render 
them in many instances new versions of the ori- 



ADVERTISEMENT. XI 

ginal ; except indeed with respect to Mr. Bland's 
translations, which I have seldom thought my- 
self at liberty to alter in any essential matter. 
His portion of the Work is distinguished, as in 
the former publication, by the initial B. ; while 
the letter H. still continues to denote the con- 
tributions of Mr. Hodgson, and those marked 
C. M. belong to my son, Mr. Charles Merivale, 
of St. John's College, Cambridge, whom I am 
proud to name on the present occasion as having 
afforded me most material assistance in the 
arrangement of the Work # . 



* I have omitted, from not feeling myself sufficiently autho- 
rized, to insert the names of other contributors, whose initials 
will be found interspersed through the work. But I cannot suffer 
this motive of delicacy to extend so far as to restrain me 
from naming those to whom I am more particularly indebted 
for much valuable advice and suggestion as to the conduct of 
the Work, — Henry Nelson Coleridge, Esq., author of one of the 
versions of the 47th Epigram of Callimachus ; and Benjamin 
Keen, Esq., the contributor of several from Meleager and 
others, which will be discovered by the initials severally 
affixed to them. I must be also allowed to embrace the present 
opportunity of expressing my acknowledgments to Mr. John 
Edward Taylor, of the printing establishment of Mr. Richard 
Taylor, for the able critical assistance he has rendered me in 
many parts of the Work, no less than for his zealous attention 
to the office of typographical correction and superintendence 
through the whole of it. 



Xll ADVERTISEMENT. 

It remains merely to notice that the Greek text 
which I have uniformly followed is that of Brunck 
and Jacobs, except as to the fragments of Lyric 
Poetry which are not to be found in their respec- 
tive collections. I should have willingly sub- 
joined the originals for the greater satisfaction 
of critical readers, but found it w T ould swell the 
Work both in respect of size and expense far be- 
yond my wishes, and have therefore contented 
myself with adding double references to the Pla- 
nudean Anthology printed by Henry Stephens, 
and to the celebrated Vatican MS. now rendered 
accessible to all scholars by means of the Tran- 
script recently edited 5 *. On the merits or de- 
merits of the several versions, I must leave it to 
others to pronounce judgment ; but, at the risk 
even of repeating some of what has been already 
urged by Mr. Bland in his Preface, I must be 
allowed to conclude with a few remarks as to 
the nature of the task which it has been our aim 
to accomplish. 

The reader who is acquainted with the original 

* " Anthologia Gr^ca, ad fidem Codicis olim Palatini nunc 
Parisini, ex Apographo Gothano edita." A Jacobs. 4 torn. 
Lips. 1813. 



ADVERTISEMENT. Xlll 

will at once perceive that, as the compilation has 
been the work of several hands, so no uniform 
rules of translation have been adopted. Many of 
the Epigrams in the Anthology owe their whole 
charm to their perfect unity of sentiment and 
simplicity of expression. Here, therefore, it be- 
comes the duty of the translator to preserve the 
charm by rendering his version, at whatever dis- 
advantage, as literal as he can. Others, again, 
contain more expanded thoughts, and more va- 
rious imagery ; and here will be found to have 
been allowed the occasional licence of para- 
phrase, since the metaphors which pass current 
in an ancient idiom are rarely convertible into 
precise equivalents in modern diction. If, on 
the other hand, many of the fancies of these 
early poets appear common-place and trivial to 
those accustomed to the variety of more recent 
literature ; if the reader occasionally stumbles 
upon a thought hackneyed by modern usage, or 
a conceit rendered familiar to him by its trans- 
fusion through many languages, let him remem- 
ber that the Anthology, although a rich, is not 
an inexhaustible storehouse of treasures, which 
later ages have plundered without restraint or 



XIV ADVERTISEMENT. 

scruple. Love, friendship, pleasure, sorrow, — 
all the most familiar sources of human interest, 
■ — furnished the first race of poets with their 
freshest and most obvious images ; and succeed- 
ing writers have found it an easier and more 
popular task to reproduce them under a perpe- 
tual variety of forms, than to tax invention for 
original subjects. 

It is our misfortune to live in an after age, 
when all the poetical topics which appeal most 
readily to the imagination are worn threadbare by 
the use of so many generations. But let us not 
forget that the same complaint has been re-echoed 
from the remotest periods — 

'A ficiKCip, ogtis kf\v Keirov \porop 'i^pis doic^s, 
~Movcrcio)v d€pa.7rtop, or amiparos rjv ert Xetfxuv' 
vvv c)' ore Ttavra Eedaarat, €)(ov(TL c)e 7T€ipara re^pai, 
varepoi ware, dpofiov KaTaXeurofxeO', ovEe ttyj eari 
Travrfj Tr<nrTaivo)Ta veo^vyes dpfia ireXaaacu. 

J. H. Merivale. 



MR. BLAND'S PREFACE 



TO THE 



TWO FORMER EDITIONS, 



X HE merit to which the poems in the Greek An- 
thology have a claim, consists generally in the just- 
ness of a single thought conveyed in harmonious 
language. Very little can be done in the space of 
a few couplets, and it only remains for the writer to 
do that little with grace. The eye is fatigued with 
being raised too long to gaze on rocks and preci- 
pices, and delights to repose itself on the refreshing 
verdure and gentle slopes of scenery less bold and 
daring. In the same manner, the lover of poetry 
will sometimes find a grateful pause from grandeur 
and elevation, in the milder excellence of suavity 
and softness. 

The two great Epic Poets of antiquity have been 
instructed to sing in English numbers ; and the 
smaller works which have been bequeathed to us 



XVI MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

have had admirers and translators. Even Horace, 
the most versatile, who illustrates the greatest va- 
riety of subjects with expressions for ever new and 
varying, has fallen in with persons hardy enough to 
attempt meeting him in all the shapes which he as- 
sumes. The Greek Anthology opens a wide and 
almost an untried field for further exertions ; and, 
although the present age may boast of no poets ca- 
pable of piercing deep into the regions made sacred by 
ancient genius, yet we have those whose taste may 
enable them to gather a few flowers that grow by 
the way-side, and preserve them to their country. 

There is a certain turn of thought in many of the 
English fugitive pieces, which may easily be traced 
to a Greek fountain ; such as that with which Ben 
Jonson concludes his Epitaph on Drayton. He thus 
addresses the "pious marble:" 

" And when thy ruins shall disclaim 
To be the treasurer of his name, 
His name, that cannot fade, shall be 
An everlasting monument to thee." 

The following distich, inscribed by Ion to the me- 
mory of Euripides, furnished the above : 

Ov gov fivrj/ia toB' ear, 'Evpiwidr], aXXa av rovde, 
Trj ay yap £o£t? fjivfj/ja rotf ajU7re)(ercu. 

But our learned countryman commonly had recourse 
to the ancients for thoughts and images ; and he has 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XV11 

been detected, by Mr. Cumberland, " in poaching in 
an obscure collection of love-letters, written in a 
most rhapsodical style/' for all the ideas transmitted 
to us in the well-known song, " Drink to me only 
with thine eyes," — for which it turns out that he 
was indebted to a pretty although conceited turn 
of thought in the twenty-fourth letter of the sophist 
Philostratus ; e/mol Se /liovoig irpoirive toIq ofxfxaaiv y 
&c. : the version is literal. One of the few translated 
Epigrams (that of Simmias on the tomb of Sopho- 
cles,) has been naturalized in our language by every 
charm of poetry and of music; and Cumberland's, 
Observer contains several others, which, although 
faithfully translated, are as easy and familiar as ori- 
ginals. 

It is necessary to mention the impropriety of com- 
bining in our minds with the word Epigram, when 
applied to the poetry of the Greeks, any of the ideas 
which that term is apt to excite in the mind of a 
mere English reader. It is owing chiefly to this im- 
propriety, that those beautiful remains of antiquity 
are so little known to us, and that so few have been 
familiarized through the medium of translation. They 
relate to subjects that will be interesting and affect- 
ing, as long as youth and gaiety delight, as wine and 
music and beauty captivate, or as the contrary ideas 
of old-age and death, sickness, banishment, neglected 



XV111 MR. bland's preface 

love, or forsaken friendship, can melt in pleasing sor- 
row, or chasten into tender melancholy. 

The term Epigram, which literally signifies an 
Inscription, was first appropriated to those short 
sentences which were inscribed on offerings made 
in temples. It was afterwards transferred to the 
inscription on the temple gate ; thence to other edi- 
fices, to the statues of gods and heroes, and of men 
whether living or dead ; and the term remained, 
whether the inscription was in verse or in prose; as 
was that very ancient one on the tomb of Cyrus : 'Q 
avOptoire, eyw Kvpoc, o rriv apyr\v role, TlepuaiQ ktt)- 
aa/LievoG Kai tt)c, A.Gir\c fiaaiXevG' fxri ovv (j)0ovf}Gr)G rov 
[ivrifxaTOG. The brevity of these inscriptions, which 
rendered it so easy to impress on the memory any 
particular event, or any illustrious name, soon re- 
commended them for other purposes. The lawgiver 
adopted them to convey a moral precept, and the 
lover to express a tender sentiment ; and hence, in 
process of time, almost every little poem, which con- 
cisely presented one distinct idea, or pursued one 
general argument, acquired the title of Epigram. 

But the small poems which claim the greatest 
attention are those which were written as memo- 
rials of the dead, as tokens of regard for living 
beauty or virtue, or as passing observations upon, 
and brief sketches of, human life, 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XIX 

The excellence belonging to the Greek inscrip- 
tions in honour of the dead, consists in the happy 
introduction of their names and peculiar characters 
or occupations. The lines inscribed by Pope to the 
illustrious dead, have been well called " Epitaphs 
to let." The omission of the name is not their only 
defect. The virtues so liberally bestowed have 
nothing in them of discrimination, and would sit 
equally easy on the shoulders of any other good or 
great personage, as of those thus generalized. They 
are " the scourge of knaves " — " honest courtiers " 
— " statesmen, yet friends to truth " — " uncor- 
rupted e'en among the great," 

" And they are all, all honourable men." — 

Yet their very names and distinguishing marks of 
character are frequently forgotten in the rhymes 
built to their immortality. 

In the tributes presented to beauty the same cha- 
racteristic is observable. A Grecian lover seldom la- 
bours at a picture for which the colours must be so 
far-fetched. Indeed he seldom gives any picture 
at all. He has been favoured or repulsed, as it may 
happen ; the occasion seems to suggest one natural 
turn of thought; and, contenting himself with a de- 
lineation of what he felt, and not of what he might 
feel, he has done as much as the circumstance re- 
quired, and no more. 



XX MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

The short observations on human life, couched in 
Greek Epigrams, are ever of a melancholy cast : a 
complaint on the ills of age, sickness, or poverty ; 
or a beacon set up to light us on our road, and to 
warn us agaiust pride, perfidy, ingratitude, envy, 
and all the other shoals that lie in the way of our 
happiness. Gloomy and uncomfortable reflections 
on the shortness and misery of life, seem equally to 
have inspired the philosopher and the voluptuary. 
By such reflections the former points his moral, and 
the latter defends his excesses. 

To those, whose notions of a future state were 
perplexed, dark, and uncertain ; whose belief in re- 
tribution was unsettled and wavering, and rather an 
object of speculation than a ground of hope or sa- 
tisfaction, this present life must have appeared the 
boundary of all human desires and fears ; and the 
very uncertainty of its duration, and the dark and 
miserable gloom which involved everything beyond 
it, will of themselves account for the continual com- 
plaints of the sad lot of humanity to be found in 
the ancient poets. That such were the ideas which 
followed them in solitude, and crept in upon their 
banquets, witness the few remaining strains of Mi- 
mnermus, the poet of love and pleasure. 

From the histories, orations, and nobler poems 
which have come down to us, we know how to ap- 
preciate the bold and masterly characters, who in 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS, XXI 

long succession were the pilots of Greece, and whose 
steady guidance directed her with safety and glory 
through tempests which other states were unable to 
withstand. From documents so ample, we become 
acquainted with her greatest heroes and statesmen. 
For private events and domestic occurrences, we 
must look to her fugitive pieces, which, like planks 
of a mighty wreck, help to convey to us some idea 
of the majesty of the vessel which has gone to pieces. 
In these minor relics many events are recorded be- 
neath the dignity of history to commemorate, and 
which introduce us to the private characters, cus- 
toms, and transactions of the age. We follow ob- 
scure individuals into their retirements ; we are 
made companions of their festivities, are present 
at their tables, games, births, nuptials, and fu- 
nerals. 

While Greece was yet in her infancy, her Epi- 
grams were almost the only records of things, and 
memorials of the dead. To their testimony Hero- 
dotus and Thucydides recur, and these are followed 
by Diodorus and Plutarch, all of whom appeal to 
them, as to sure and undisputed authority. Scarcely 
was a trophy consecrated, or a city depressed by 
the vicissitudes of fortune and of war, without some 
Epigram recording the event, and the causes which 
led to its completion. Thus the history of an epoch 



XX11 MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

is sometimes found couched in a few distich s, which 
are remembered and referred to without trouble. 
Simonides in particular claims our attention among 
the metrical historians of his country. His lines on 
Megistias the prophet, who fell at Thermopylae, and 
his inscriptions on the other heroes who perished at 
that famous battle, are preserved to us by Hero- 
dotus. Every thing relating to so generous and 
glorious an achievement cannot fail of interesting ; 
and we are at once delighted and instructed by the 
praises intended to convey to posterity the memory 
of those warriors who were the saviours of Greece. 
The valour of the people of Tegea, in defending 
themselves against the Spartans, is celebrated in 
four lines. On a Corinthian monument were four 
lines inscribed by the same poet to those of Corinth, 
who fell at Salamis ; and many other memorials, 
equally concise and important, are yet remaining. 
Polemo appears to have been the first collector of 
that species of Epigram, whose only aim it was to 
commemorate public transactions, cities, and gifts 
consecrated to the Gods. His books " Tlepl rwv 
Kara iroXeiQ 'E7rry|Oa i u i uaTa>v/ , " Uepi tujv avaOr)- 
f.iaro)v ev AaKe<$al[iovi" and " Uepl twv ev Ae\(j)o7c 
Qrivavpwv," have furnished Athenseus and Plutarch 
with quotations and illustrations of times that had 
long elapsed. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXlll 

But Meleager *, a Syrian, who flourished under 
the last of the Seleucidse, first collected the nume- 
rous fragments of Greece, which were entrusted, be- 
fore his time, to the memory of men, engraven on 
marbles, or dispersed as fugitive pieces. He is said 
to have been an imitator of the Cynic Menippus, 
whom Lucian has selected as the most convenient 
and characteristic vehicle for scurrility and abuse : 

Movcrcu MeXeaypov 

Meia7r7re/a(s ip/Xaiaav yapiai. 



But either some other Menippus, or some other 
Meleager, far different from the tender and affecting 
collector of the first Anthologia, seems to have been 
intended. It would appear impossible, that he, who 
so eloquently pourtrays the softer passions of our na- 
ture, whose muse is dedicated to amorous pleasures 
and incentives, should have sat a severe and stern 
censor on human frailties, passions, and infirmities, 
— that the same man who was by turns a slave to 



* An old Greek scholiast seems to settle the dispute concerning 
the sera in which Meleager lived. v}Kfia,Tiv vxi Setewww tou 
eaxxTov. Olymp. 170, ahout ninety-six years before the Christian 
aera. [Mr. Fynes Clinton has amply confirmed the opinion here 
expressed; and no future translator or critic will confound toge- 
ther persons so dissimilar as the Cynic of Gadara, and the poet 
and collector of the Anthology. See Introd. to Meleager below. 



XXIV ME. BLAND S PREFACE 

love and melancholy, should have sneered sarcasti- 
cally at his fellow-creatures, few of whom were half 
so prone to weakness and error as himself. 

Diogenes Laertius speaks of a Meleager, who not 
only imitated, but equalled the biting and barking- 
Cynic of Gadara in wit and acrimony; and Athe- 
nseus mentions a Cynic by the name of Meleager, 
but in such a manner, that he seems almost to be 
making a distinction between him and another of 
that name. MeXeaypoc o Kvvikoq ev tw ^vfX7ro(Tioj 
ovT(*)Gi ypa(pei. Whence it appears that the Cynic 
had written a satire, called ^vfiiroaiov. And the same 
author mentions the titles of two other satirical per- 
formances by the same Meleager, whom he calls the 
Cynic of Gadara, the birth-place of the Epigram- 
matist. Would not Athenseus with more consis- 
tency have given to our author the titles of Collec- 
tor and Poet, as well as that of Cynic, had he 
intended the last-mentioned appellation to have ap- 
plied to the same man ? # [There is a coarseness 
in the satirical character, which is never fined away 
into feeling for surrounding objects. Selfishness, 
which is inseparable from it, detains all its wishes 
and desires, its pleasures and uneasinesses, at home. 
The delight of such a man is purchased by the tor- 

* The passage here included between brackets is in the edition 
of 1808 (p. xvi.), but was omitted in that of 1813.— -J. H. M. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS, XXV 

ture of another, unless he has sacrificed his daily 
victim, — 

Noctem patitur lugentis amicum 

Peleidae. 

The nutriment on which he fattens is loathsome ; 
he cannot for a moment conceal the spirit of perse- 
cution, which is unrelenting ; it intrudes upon all 
his forced essays of philanthropy, and gives a tinge 
to his constrained sallies of pleasantry. It must, it 
will be seen.] 

The relics of Meleager [form of themselves a con- 
trast to this description. They] bespeak a mind 
woven of the finest texture, shaded, but not dark- 
ened by melancholy ; easily affected by change of 
place or season ; soft and pliable to a guilty excess ; 
and in no one instance do they betray a propensity 
to sneer, or a struggle to conceal it. At least his 
satires are no more ; while his amatory poems, epi- 
taphs, and other records of affection, tenderness, 
and sorrow, remain in sufficient number to contra- 
dict his supposed devotion to Menippus, or to 
prove that, if he ever were so devoted, it was not 
until after he had banqueted to satiety at the table 
of Epicurus. 

The venom of Archilochus ceases to operate. 
All that we know of Menippus is, that his Satires 
were written in prose, with a sprinkling of verse ; 

b 



XXVI MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

and even this peculiarity might have been unre- 
corded, had it not been imitated by Varro # , who 
thus procured to himself the title of the Roman 
Cynic, and to his writings the name of the poet 
whom he followed. The extemporary burlesques, 
written in France against the League, were collected 
together under the title of " Satires Menippees," 
and our countryman, Dr. Ferriar, has given us a 
specimen of the peculiarity at least of a Menippean 
treatise. 

The Menippean satires of the Cynic Meleager 
are so entirely buried in oblivion, that confusion has 
even arisen about their author. Burlesques, written 
to expose the eccentricities of individuals, are read 
with avidity, and are irresistible at their first appear- 
ance. The love of novelty and curiosity, the self- 
complacence and vanity which those persons feel 
who have escaped the lash, and the free indulgence 
of all that is malignant in human nature, conspire 
to adapt personal satire to the taste of the world. 



* Varro not only mixed prose with verse, but Greek with Latin. 
The few fragments which we possess are much corrupted — the 
titles of many satires remain. He rejected the acrimony of Me- 
nippus, and is rather to be ranked among those poets who are 
called ffrov^oyi'hoioi. 

Boethius departs still further from the intention of Menippus ; 
and seeks consolation in the imprisonment imposed on him by the 
G othic king, from the mixed charm of poetry and philosophy. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXV11 

But the once dreaded sting becomes blunted by- 
time, and the sallies of raillery lose their poignancy 
with their application. 

Two Epigrams of Meleager seem to fix the eera 
in which he flourished. In one he commemorates 
the fall of Corinth ; in another he endeavours to ex- 
plain the emblematical figures of a cock supporting 
a branch of palm and a die, on the tomb of Anti- 
pater, the poet and philosopher of Sidon, whose re- 
mains are interwoven in the Anthologia. 

To this beautiful collection Meleager prefixed a 
poem descriptive of the work, and of the authors by 
whose contributions it was enriched. This preface 
is entitled the Garland, in which the choicest flowers 
of every ancient and contemporary poet are wreathed 
together, and presented to his friend Diodes. 

"Aware jj.kv MeXeaypos, &C. 

Implicuit Meleager, honoratoque Diocli 

Munus amicitise dsedala serta dedit ; 
Lilia multa Anytse subnectens, multaque Myrus 

Lilia ; Lesbose pauca, sed ilia rosas. 

The youthful vigour of Greece was now declining ; 
and her exertions in arms and arts were becoming 
less active as centuries rolled on ; but in her green 
old age, the features of her youth were discernible, 
and the spirit with which she was animated burst 
forth in irregular and partial gleams, that evinced 
b 2 



XXV111 MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

her not yet to be exhausted by the efforts of former 
days. 

Deprived of the advantages enjoyed by his pre- 
decessor, Philip of Thessalonica continued the work 
after an interval of a hundred and fifty years. We 
must here no more expect to meet with those vivid 
flowers which adorned the elder wreath. 

Perfection is no longer to be found. The Sap- 
phos and Anacreons of the day were admirers and 
imitators of their predecessors, but bore no nearer 
resemblance to them than the Pseudo-Hercules # in 
one of Menander's plays, to the real hero of anti- 
quity. The same ideas recur : but the power of 
expression to give them their due illustration is 
wanting. It is a most just and elegant comparison 
which Addison makes somewhere in his Spectators 
(and which may well be transferred to the subject 
before us,) when, speaking of Roman eloquence, he 
observes, that the same idea expressed in the 
language of Cicero, and attempted by another 
writer, differs as much as the same object when 
seen by the light of the sun, or the glimmering of a 
taper. 

The attractions of these light compositions be- 

* This person is recorded to have appeared on the stage with a 
club, like his predecessor, which he brandished to and fro, threat- 
ening annihilation to the weak, timid, and defenceless. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXIX 

come less striking as we advance ; the colourings, 
no longer vivid, are mellowed into the tints of au- 
tumn, but although " fallen into the sear and yel- 
low leaf," remain pleasing to the eye, and interesting 
even to their latest decay. 

During the lapse of more than five hundred years, 
the lyre of Greece hung silent and unstrung ; and 
when Agathias, in the sixth century, attempted to 
give it sound, a feeble tinkling was returned to the 
touch before it lay mute for ever. 

This collector raked together the loose miscel- 
lanies and scattered fragments of his time ; and 
knew not that by his exertions he was bequeathing 
and perpetuating to succeeding ages the figure of 
his country, enfeebled, helpless, exhausted, and 
nearly sunk into dotage. Some of his own produc- 
tions may be brought forward to redeem it from this 
second childishness. He himself acknowledges 
the strong bent of his mind to the alluring pursuit 
of poetry, and in early youth he published a collec- 
tion of amorous poems, which he entitled " Daph- 
niaca." In some of his works a tenderness and 
justness of expression are perceivable, which would 
have done honour to better times ; and the tribute 
offered to the Ereutho of Agathias, would not have 
been disregarded by the Heliodora of Meleager. It 
is most probable that our collector was assisted by 



XXX MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

his friend Paul the Silentiary*, who, besides his 
more desultory works, wrote a laboured account of 
the Church, dedicated to Santa Sophia, or Sacred 
Wisdom, from which the cross has been taken, and 
the monks have in latter days retired, to make way 
for dervishes and the adorers of Mahomet. 

Many of the Epigrams of Agathias and his friend 
the Silentiary, correspond with each other, Paul 
was a courtier, who prostituted his muse, it is said, 
in celebration of the infamous Theodora ; he was a 
voluptuary, who seems to have indulged himself 
freely in the gardens, the baths, and all the de- 
basing pleasures of his countrymen. He is never 
cloyed by possession, but returns after enjoyment, 
and dwells, in his polluted imagination, on the ban- 
quet by which he has been surfeited. In this how- 
ever he is not singular ; for dreadful as were the 
calamities of his times, we turn with still greater 
horror from the vices which gave birth to them. 

We can know little of the private life of Aga- 
thias ; but from an anecdote which he has himself 
related, we may conjecture that it was imbittered by 
family disputes and misfortunes. His sister, Euge- 
nia, had been married to Theodotus. This gentle 

* Tluvhog ILfcivTiUQios, a term adopted from the Latin Silen- 
tium ; more properly Uc&v'hos ' HavKOTroiot; : it was an office in the 
court of Justinian, corresponding to that of Gentleman-usher. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXXI 

pair, on some difference of opinion, had recourse to 
a trial of strength, in which, before they could be 
separated, they both expired*. Agathias supposes 
the husband to exculpate them, by declaring, from 
their common tomb, that neither was in fault, — that 
envy, or some fury, had devoted them to its ven- 
geance, and that before the judge of the shades 
they stood acquitted of malice. 

The labours of Agathias have however deserved 
well of posterity ; for as the public taste declines 
with the morals and power of a people, he found 
admirers in his contemporaries, who seem to have 
given all the encouragement in their power to this 
unpromising offspring of decrepitude, and to have 
watched over it with such jealous care, that we have 
more remains from the collection of Agathias, than 
from those of his two predecessors conjointly. Thus, 
if we are not indebted to this collector for any very 
refined pleasure in the perusal of his work, — yet, if 
it be true that mat a estpicturapoesis, we are at least 
enabled to judge, from the preference given to the 
new over the old collection, of the then prevailing 
taste in literature. 

A more calamitous period in the history of the 

* See Epig. 86 Agath. Brunck. torn. iii. p. 65. 



XXX11 MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

world is not to be found, than that which elapsed 
from the fourth to the sixth century. The barba- 
rians of the North had not only succeeded in their 
depredations on the enfeebled inhabitants of the 
Eastern and Western empires, but had introduced 
their manners among them, and had even engrafted 
their jargons on the withering stem of Grecian lite- 
rature. 

At the end of the sixth century, this unhappy 
country appears to have become foreign to herself, 
and none, except those who devoted themselves 
solely to the study of ancient learning, were masters 
of the dialects, metres, and nice discriminations be- 
tween words seemingly synonymous. Grammarians 
had, at different times, endeavoured to affix, by ac- 
cents, certain rules for the raising and depression of 
the voice, which, if not invented at this sera, were 
at least more generally resorted to as the standards 
of tone and modulation. On props so faithless and 
unsteady, the ancient fabric was not calculated long 
to brave the assaults of barbarism. The public 
taste continued to decline ; and while the collection 
of Agathias remained entire, those of Meleager and 
Philip were yearly losing some of their ornaments 
from two distinct causes : for the decay of old ma- 
nuscripts was not supplied by new transcribers ; and 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXX111 

with a gloomy and unrelenting zeal the ministers of 
religion persecuted every work of ingenuity and 
fancy. 

The first of Meleager's collections was necessarily 
exposed to their fury. The specimens of that work 
which yet remain too abundantly justify the perse- 
cution. It was written for the express purpose of 
celebrating Eastern sensuality ; and is said to have 
contained nothing but the divitias miseras of a mind 
pregnant with ideas wasted in the embellishment of 
vice. But unfortunately its undiscriminating ene- 
mies appear to have been actuated by a rage no less 
furious, against those beautiful relics of affection 
and sorrow, by which the poet endeavoured to make 
amends to an insulted world for the extravagance of 
his youth. 

To Agathias we are indebted for six years of the 
reign of Justinian, continued From the history of 
Procopius to the last victory of Belisarius, in the 
year 559, over the Bulgarians, commanded by Za- 
bergan. The history of our author has been cen- 
sured, perhaps justly, as a dull and prolix declama- 
tion. Yet he is generally allowed to maintain a 
respectable place among the Byzantine historians, 
and is peculiarly noticed for the mildness and huma- 
nity of his sentiments. 

The whole series of the Gothic war had been com- 

b 5 



XXXIV 

pleted by Procopius. — Puring the eventful reign of 
Justinian, Home had five times changed masters, 
and was once more restored to her lawful Emperor 
by the bravery of Narses. The times were big with 
stratagems, individual deeds of heroism, distant mi- 
grations of Barbarians from the bleak and ungenial 
North in quest of milder suns, the havoc of war and 
pestilence, and the convulsions of empires and of 
nature # . Gibbon takes a reluctant leave of Proco- 
pius for Agathias. " We must now (says he) relin- 
quish a statesman and a soldier, to attend the foot- 
steps of a poet and a rhetorician." The savage 
descent of the Franks under the two brothers Buc- 
celin and Lothaire into the fair plains of Italy, the 
wild superstitions of their allies the Allemanni, who 
sacrificed the heads of horses to their native deities 
of woods and rivers, are noticed by this even and 
placid writer in the strain of cool philosophy. The 
Sibyl's cave, made venerable by its inmate and by 
the ancient dreams of inspiration, is only mentioned 
with a view of ascertaining its site with accuracy • 
and the final victory gained by Narses on the banks 
of the Vulturnus was only chosen to give point and 
ornament to an epigram of six lines. Rome had so 

* See an account of the earthquakes that shook Constantinople 
incessantly, and the comets which appeared in the reign of Justi- 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXXV 

frequently been the seat of empire to barbarous 
monarchs, had so often crouched under the despo- 
tism and indignities imposed on her by strangers, 
the theatre of her former victories had in such nu- 
merous instances represented the scenes of her dis- 
grace and humiliation, that we are no longer to ex- 
pect from her historians that awful regard, that holy 
" admonitus locorum," which is felt by the patriot 
while musing over the honours of his country. 

But in describing the joy which diffused itself 
over Italy, this writer is insensibly betrayed into 
language so nearly approaching to poetry, that its 
resemblance to the opening of Richard the Third 
could not escape the notice of Gibbon # . — "Nothing 
(says Agathias) remained for the Italians but to 
exchange their shields and helmets for the soft lute 
and capacious hogshead." 

Agathias was one of the few remaining Greeks 
who made the study of the ancient language the 
business of their lives, and hence he obtained the 
name of Scholasticus ; for, amongst other encou- 



* I am led to observe another remarkable resemblance between 
a celebrated passage in Henry the Fifth, and the following splen- 
did figure in a homily of St. Chrysostom : hi h dura Tr^oaKnuiQu 
pew 6 ov(>xvo$ uttxs, dexTgou Is y oixovfisuri, te&Tcct It kxI dKgoczrxl 
rtocvres oLyyihot, kui olyQ^wxav QaonriQ oiyyshot Tvy^dvavatv 6'uTsg, v\ 



XXXVI MR. BLAND S PREFACE 

ragements held out to support the cause of expiring 
literature, the names and titles of grammarian and 
scholar were applied to those who signalized them- 
selves by successful application to the works of 
their forefathers. 

In the tenth century, the manuscripts, from the 
combined effects of time, discord, and superstition, 
were either nearly destroyed, or falling quietly into 
oblivion. Happily for the lovers of poetry, a person, 
known to us by name only, embarked once more in 
the undertaking, and saved the vessel that was go- 
ing unnoticed down the stream of time to oblivion. 
This person was Constantinus Cephalus, the friend 
and relation of the Emperor Leo the Philosopher, 
some of whose whimsical productions appear in the 
work. How small a share of literature and talent 
entitled a person in these days to public notice, we 
may easily collect from the honourable title con- 
ferred on Leo, whose time appears to have been de- 
voted to anything' rather than those pursuits from 
whence he derived his precedence in name. 

Maximus Planudes, a monk of the fourteenth 
century, was the last collector. We are not to ex- 
pect great excellence of selection in a man of that 
age and profession ; and must not be surprised if 
many dull and, to say no worse of them, unmeaning 
epigrams of his tasteless times have a place in his 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXXVU 

work, to the exclusion of others recommended by 
elegance and antiquity # . 

Planudes turned with abhorrence from the many 
indelicacies that yet disgraced the work ; and, as 
Lascaris says of him in his Preface, "Non magis 
disposuit, quam mutilavit, et, ut ita dicam, castravit 
hunc librum, detractis lascivioribus epigrammatis ; 
ut ipse gloriatur." 

To this imperfect and tasteless abridgement the 
scholars of Europe were referred until the seven- 
teenth century ; and this might have been added to 
the number of instances on record, where abridge- 
ments have survived their originals, had not a youth 
of Burgundy, the pride and wonder of the age in 
which he lived, rescued the parent collection from 
total oblivion. 

Claude de Saumaise, well known to us by the name 
of Salmasius, was one of those original and hardy 
geniuses of the sixteenth and beginning of the seven- 
teenth centuries who braved the terrors of religious 
persecution, and embraced tenets rather from con- 
viction than the fashion of the times. His mother 
was a Protestant, and had infused into his mind her 

* The Editio Princeps of this Anthologia was that of Janus 
Lascaris, accompanied by a Greek Prologue of the editor, and a 
Latin Epistle to Pietro de' Medici, printed at Florence, August, 
1492. 



xxxviii MR. bland's preface 

notions on points of faith with such assiduity, that, 
after a residence in Paris of two or three years, he 
fled from that city to Heidelberg, for the express 
purpose of enjoying in freedom his religious opi- 
nions. It was at the age of fourteen that, under 
the escort of some merchants who were going to 
Frankfort fair, he reached the capital of the Pala- 
tinate, with recommendatory letters to all the learned 
there from Isaac Casaubon, with whom he had be- 
come intimate at Paris. To oblige his father, he 
studied civil law under Gothofredus. But his own 
inclination induced him to avail himself of the per- 
mission granted him of perusing the books contained 
in the library of the Palatinate. To accomplish this 
purpose, he sat up every third night, and was already 
pronounced by Casaubon "ad miraculum doctus." 
His time was employed in comparing printed edi- 
tions with their MSS., and in transcribing the MSS. 
not hitherto printed. 

He soon discovered that Maximus Planudes had 
been unfaithful in the office he had undertaken ; 
and put together that collection, which, though un- 
published, has ever since been known by the name 
of Salmasian, and constantly referred to by succeed- 
ing commentators. 

Various causes prevented Salmasius from pub- 
lishing his favourite work. Towards the close of life 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. XXXIX 

he was in great estimation among the sovereigns of 
Europe, and, on his return from Sweden, was un- 
fortunately engaged to undertake the defence of the 
unhappy House of Stuart, which called down upon 
him the retaliation of Milton, with whom he was in 
no respect qualified to measure lances. Thus elated 
by the attentions of the great, and humbled in a 
contest with one who was then regarded as compa- 
ratively an obscure individual, his mind fluctuated 
between the extremes of grandeur and debasement, 
and seems for ever to have lost that firm serenity, 
that just appreciation of its own powers, which 
neither aims at things beyond its grasp, nor sacri- 
fices, to a temporary repulse, the pursuit in which 
it was formed to excel from inclination and experi- 
ence. 

* [Within the last century, however, others arose to 
complete the task which Salmasius left imperfectly 
accomplished. Various MSS. in almost all the 
great public libraries of Europe, contained multi- 
tudes of Epigrams which had been rejected by or 
unknown to Planudes ; many of them such as he 
certainly could not be imagined to have cast aside 
from any of the conscientious scruples above alluded 
to. The great Dictionary of Suidas, also, and other 

* The part included within brackets was added to the original 
Preface in the Edition of 1813.— J. H. M. 



Xl MR. BLAND's PREFACE 

similar magazines of ancient literature, had pre- 
served numbers, either entire, or in fragments, which 
are to be found in none of those existing MSS. and 
the sources of which are now no longer to be traced. 
From this mass of materials Brunck undertook to sup- 
ply the deficiencies of all former editions of the An- 
thology; and his"Analecta,"corrected and perfected 
with all the industry and learning for which his name 
is so deservedly eminent, form the text of the later 
and very superior edition which has been since given 
to the world by Jacobs. The "Analecta," however, 
comprise, besides the numerous legitimate additions 
to the Anthology of Planudes already mentioned, a 
great quantity of the works of the minor Grecian 
poets, who are not, strictly speaking, entitled to a 
place among the Poets of the Anthology ; and this 
is avowed by Jacobs to have been his principal mo- 
tive for giving a new edition of Brunck, in which 
all extraneous matter was to be omitted, in pre- 
ference to publishing simply a commentary upon 
Brunck's whole text. This intention being ex- 
pressed in the very outset of his Preface, it appears 
strangely inconsistent in him to have retained the 
Lyrics and Elegiacs of Simonides, the Fragments of 
Archilochus and Bacchylides, the Hymns of Proclus, 
&c. while he rejected the greater proportion of the 
Elegiac, Gnomic, Lyric, and Pastoral Poems which 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. xli 

formed so large a part of Brunck's publication. He 
surely might have retained the whole, if he retained 
any part ; and he does not assign the shadow of a 
sufficient reason for making such a selection. 

The conduct of both these Editors of the Antho- 
logy being so arbitrary in this respect, there seems 
to be no apology necessary on the part of an English 
translator, who has considered himself as not con- 
fined exclusively even within the widest of the limits 
which they have prescribed ; and the fragments of 
dramatic writers, and even the few extracts from the 
great tragedians which will be found in the ensuing 
pages, may, it is hoped, defend their intrusion upon 
pleas at least as good as any that can be adduced in 
favour of Theocritus, Sappho, or Anacreon. 

To return to the editions of the Anthology : Ja- 
cobs's is the latest, and incomparably the best. It 
proceeds (as I have said before,) on the text, and 
retains the paging, of Brunck ; and all the numeri- 
cal references in the following Work are made to the 
same text. Whenever the sense of any of the pieces, 
which I selected for translation, appeared to require 
explanation, I have also made free use of the assist- 
ance which his annotations furnish towards it. 

A considerable portion of the Anthologia still re- 
mained in its inedited state after Brunck and Jacobs 
had ransacked all the libraries to which they had 



xlii 



MR. BLAND S PREFACE 



access, for the sake of giving the whole to the pub- 
lic. A splendid MS. known by the name of the 
Vatican, and now in the Imperial library at Paris, 
seems to have been untouched by them ; and it is 
said to contain some hundreds of Epigrams by the 
oldest and best poets of the Anthology, which are 
not to be found in either Brunck or Jacobs. Several 
of these have been subsequently edited by Huschke, 
in a small volume entitled "Analecta Critica;" but 
the best and fullest account of the MS. which con- 
tains them is to be found in the " Melanges de Cri- 
tique et de Philologie, par S. Chardon de la Ro- 
chette, 3 tomes, Paris, 1812/' which contains also 
a few of the Epigrams themselves, with the conjec- 
tural emendations and notes of the very learned and 
sensible writer. We also learn, from that Work, that 
M. Chardon himself has, for a great many years 
past, been engaged in the design of giving to the 
world a new edition of the Anthology, to comprise 
all that ought strictly to be comprised under the 
term, and of course the whole of the yet unexhaust- 
ed treasures of this Vatican MS. The revolution of 
France, he says, interrupted the execution of this 
design, but he gives reason to believe that he has 
since resumed it ; and if our hopes of the whole 
Work are well founded upon these few specimens, 
there is reason to expect at last a perfect collection 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. xliii 

of all those pieces of fugitive poetry, the history of 
which, and of their early assemblage and subsequent 
dispersion, has been hastily and imperfectly sketch- 
ed in the preceding pages. To this late publication 
of M. Chardon, it will be seen that I am under ob- 
ligations, upon other grounds, besides that of its 
having afforded me the information, which I have 
here communicated, respecting the " Anthologia 
inedita."] 

I cannot conclude without slightly noticing the 
principal sources from which (besides the Antho- 
logia,) the materials of the ensuing Work have been 
collected. The first is Athenceus, who was an 
Egyptian, a native of Naucratos, and flourished in 
the third century. From his extraordinary powers 
of memory, and from the extensive learning which 
his works display, he has acquired and merited the 
title of the Grecian Varro. Of these works, which 
were numerous, that of the " Deipnosophists " only 
remains to us, and is alone sufficient to support his 
character and justify his pre-eminence. To us, at 
least, it is rendered a most invaluable treasure by 
the quotations it contains from celebrated works of 
esteemed authors, and from authors whose names 
alone would have survived to us but for the frag- 
ments which it preserves. He conveys information, 
in the most pleasing way, on the most interesting 



xliv MR. BLAND'S preface 

subjects, the customs, manners, and opinions of the 
Greeks ; and we are likewise indebted to him for 
several of the poems which the later collectors have 
inserted in the Anthologia. 

Joannes Stobseus was so called from the place of 
his birth, Stobse, in Macedonia. His age is not pre- 
cisely ascertained, but has been conjectured by 
Heeren, his commentator, to have been about the 
end of the fourth, and beginning of the fifth cen- 
turies. He was also a collector of an Anthologia, 
but on a very different principle from any hitherto 
mentioned. The instruction of a favourite son was 
the scope of his labours ; and to this we are indebt- 
ed for both the collections which we have under his 
name, but which, in all probability, were but sepa- 
rate parts of the same work. They consist of ex- 
tracts from the most excellent philosophers and mo- 
ral dramatic writers of Greece. To a work contain- 
ing the united wisdom of the best ages of antiquity 
and the most beautiful poetry which the vigorous 
genius of Athens ever produced, the title of a well- 
arranged common-place book is perhaps now the 
strongest recommendation that can be given ; and 
to such praise are the books of Stobseus entitled. 
Fragments of near three hundred writers are pre- 
served by him, of whom the greatest number have 
so nearly suffered their final dissolution, that no ves- 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. xlv 

tiges of them remain anywhere else ; particularly 
those of the many comic writers of Menander's 
school, which (perhaps beyond any other circum- 
stances,) tend to make us regret the cruel depreda- 
tions of time. I shall, in the course of my present 
undertaking, present a few of these in an English 
dress. — Their serious and moral turn, united to a 
force and energy of expression which entitles them 
to a very high poetical estimation, will afford a pleas- 
ing variety from the lighter and more alluring lays 
of Meleager, Agathius, and Antipater. 

The name of Menander, from the praises lavished 
on him by his contemporaries, suggests to our mind 
the most complete model of gaiety that any poet 
before or since his time has presented. We are en- 
titled, from the universal assent of the ancients, to 
expect this quality in a writer, to whom it was said so 
eminently to belong. But time has revelled on the 
noble image of Menander ; it has preyed on all that 
was inviting in his aspect, and spared little else than 
his frowns, wrinkles, and deformities. What a proof 
does it present to our mind of the instability of 
fame, when we find that the very character of this 
celebrated bard has undergone so entire a revolu- 
tion ; and that of his voluminous works, the monu- 
ments by which he vainly hoped to be immortalized, 
only fragments enough remain to present to our 



xlvi MR. bland's preface 

view the very reverse of that which they were de- 
signed to perpetuate ! 

Even this poet, gloomy and melancholy as he 
now appears, was once, according to Pliny, u omnis 
luxuries, interpresj" in the language of Plutarch, 
'.' the constant worshiper, the chief priest of the 
God of Love, who, like some universal spirit, per- 
vaded and connected all his works." Yet his love 
was so refined and his voluptuousness so guarded by 
delicacy, that he was placed, without scruple or dan- 
ger, in the hands of youths and virgins : 

Fabula jucundi nulla est sine amore Menandri, 
Et solet hie pueris \irginibusque legi. — Ovid. ]" 

Many ages after his death, a statue was erected 
to his memory, and placed by the side of the image 
of Cupid. 

Two or three Epigrams, made upon this statue, 
are preserved, which display, in the figurative and 
forcible language of his countrymen, the estimation 
in which he was held, and give him a distinguished 
rank among the gay and amorous poets of antiquity. 

" In supporting the characters of fathers, sons, 
husbands, soldiers, peasants, the rich and the poor, 
the violent and the gentle, Menander surpassed all 
in consistency, and by the brilliance of his imagery 
threw every rival into the shade." Such is the cha- 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. xlvii 

racter given of him by Quintilian. The natural par- 
tiality of Caesar for his countrymen only permits him 
to give a secondary place to Terence, the imitator of 
the elegant, but not of the witty, Grecian. Ausonius 
couples our poet with Homer ; and he is extolled by 
all those who had access to his works, with an en- 
thusiasm not inferior to that with which the name 
of the prince of poets is mentioned. 

I have heard that a great English orator, now 
living *, the only scholar who has made the style of 
Demosthenes his own, and adapted it to present 
politics and the events of the times, has frequently 
declared his opinion, founded on the specimens of 
our poet which yet remain, and the praises of all the 
discerning ancients, that the loss of his dramas is 
more to be deplored than of any other ancient writ- 
ings whatever. The real Menander is departed from 
us ; and all the praises of antiquity, and the regret 
of subsequent ages, resemble only the rich mantle 
which wraps the corpse of a monarch, or the frank- 
incense which burns upon his pile ! 

A few relics, among those of lesser note yet re- 
maining, (which like the bones of some giant picked 

* That is, in the year 1806, when this Preface was printed. In 
the Edition of 1813 the words " now no more " were substituted in 
the place of "now living." It is almost unnecessary to add that 
Fox was the orator alluded to. — J. H.M. 



xlviii MR. bland's preface 

up in the field, once the theatre of his exploits, 
cannot be fitted to any other than the huge body- 
to which they belonged,) give us some idea of the 
vastness of Menander. — But " quantum mutatus 
ab illo ! " Where are the perfumes, the breathings 
of gallantry and tenderness, the sprightly sallies of 
wit, and all the apparatus and circumstances of love, 
youth, and delight, that conveyed and recommend- 
ed Morality to the gay and thoughtless, by attiring 
her in a dress that enamoured her beholders ? That 
his aim was morality, is evident from the praises 
bestowed on him by Plutarch and other writers. 
This end he kept in view, " unmixed with baser 
matter," and by a sort of TleiOavayKri, by an equal 
exertion of force and persuasion, commanded the 
hearts of his readers and auditors. And yet the 
fragments that have come down to us stamp him 
with the character of morose, sarcastic, and queru- 
lous. But these sentiments were put by him into 
the mouths of characters whom he designed to hold 
up to detestation or ridicule; — and what remains of 
him does not mark so strongly his own peculiar ge- 
nius, as the taste of those selectors who have chosen 
his words to illustrate their own ideas. Thus to 
the saturnine and melancholy selector we owe the 
survival of the sad, peevish^ and infantine complaints 
on the many sorrowful items " which flesh is heir 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. xlix 

to," and which, instead of offering an alleviation to 
the evils we suffer, tend to aggravate their load and 
debilitate the bearer. On the other hand, the stri- 
kingly moral passages with which his works abound- 
ed alone caught the attention of the fathers of the 
primitive church, who found in the Greek comedian 
a strain of pietv so nearly approaching to their own 
belief and feelings, that all ideas of a preponderance 
of satire over moral precept must yield to evidence 
so irresistible as the approbation of Clemens Alex- 
andrinus and Eusebius. In short, it is from these 
two sources alone, the writings of the melancholy 
and of the religious man, that we are furnished 
with our specimens of the great Menander. Happy 
were it for us, and for posterity, had the gay, the 
lively, and the witty, finished the portrait of the bard, 
by transmitting to after ages examples that would 
have enabled us to measure him by the standards of 
humour, sprightliness, and fancy. 

The superiority of the Grecian dramatists was 
felt and acknowledged by their Roman imitators 
and admirers ; and Cicero frequently reprobates the 
prevailing partiality of his countrymen for these fo- 
reign authors. He supposes a Roman thus to object 
to his arguments : " Shall I toil through the Syne- 
phebi of Caecilius, and the Andria of Terence, when 
I may as easily read the same plays in Menander?" 

c 



1 MR. BLAND'S PREFACE 

The answer of Cicero is not very convincing, nor 
likely to turn the scale in favour of the Roman stage. 
Menander was drowned in the harbour of Pirseus 
(A. C. 293), at a time of life when he had done 
enough for immortality, but while the powers of his 
mind were yet unimpaired by age, and his genius 
sufficiently ardent to do still more. He is said to 
have thrown himself into the sea in a fit of jealousy, 
occasioned by his unfortunate competition with Phi- 
lemon, his contemporary in the Middle Comedy. He 
was vanquished, as Aulus Gellius asserts, by the 
superior interest rather than talents of his success- 
ful rival ; and the same writer relates that, meet- 
ing Philemon shortly after the contest had been de- 
cided, he asked him, " if he did not blush at gain- 
ing the prize against him?" Menander is to be 
classed in the melancholy list of great men to whom 
the jealousy, bad taste, or intrigues of the times in 
which they lived, denied justice, and to whose names 
fame and honour were attached when they no longer 
lived to enjoy them. 

By a strange fatality, a great proportion of the 
writers of antiquity were thus prematurely cut off 
from existence. Euripides and Heraclitus were torn 
to pieces by dogs. Theocritus ended his career by 
the halter. Empedocles was lost in the crater of 
Mount Etna. Hesiod was murdered by his secret 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. li 

enemies; Archilochus and Ibycus by banditti. Sap- 
pho threw herself from a precipice. iEschylus pe- 
rished by the fall of a tortoise. Anacreon (as might 
be expected) owed his death to the fruit of the vine. 
Cratinus and Terence experienced the same fate with 
Menander. Seneca and Lucan were condemned to 
death by a tyrant, cut their veins, and died repeat- 
ing their own verses ; and Petronius Arbiter met a 
similar catastrophe. Lucretius, it is said, wrote under 
the delirium of a philter administered by his mis- 
tress, and destroyed himself from its effects. Poison, 
though swallowed under very different circumstances, 
cut short the days both of Socrates and Demosthenes; 
and Cicero fell under the proscription of the Trium- 
virate. It is truly wonderful that so many men, the 
professed votaries of peace and retirement, should 
have met with fates so widely different from that to 
which the common casualties of life should seem to 
expose them. 

Of Philemon, the successful rival of Menander, 
we know but little. He seems to have passed his 
life in the exercise of those social virtues which se- 
cure to a man the affection of intimates, but have 
little tendency to advance him to notice. These 
peaceful virtues w T ould probably have consigned the 
comic poet to obscurity, had not his exigencies call- 
ed out the powers he possessed to surmount those 
c2 



lii mr. bland's preface 

obstacles which his inclination had opposea, and 
pushed him into active life. His ears could not 
have been deaf to the plaudits conferred on his per- 
formances, and some sparks of ambition must have 
been kept alive by perpetual rivalry with the great 
master of the sock. 

We have a picture of Sterne, drawn by himself, 
in the attitude of feeding an ass with macaroons : 
" And at this moment/' says that sprightly and 
whimsical writer, " that I am telling it, my heart 
smites me that there was more of pleasantry in the 
conceit of seeing how an ass would eat a macaroon, 
than of benevolence in giving him one, which pre- 
sided in the act." It would be hard to say what 
figure an ass would make while thus engaged; but 
we are told by Valerius Maximus, that a similar 
entertainment caused the death of Philemon. This 
poet, on entering a room to refresh himself with 
some figs, observed that an ass had been before- 
hand with him, and was leisurely devouring them 
one by one. Philemon, wishing to complete the 
repast, courteously ordered a slave to present his 
dumb guest with a goblet of wine. This curious 
symposium provoked the comedian to such a degree 
of laughter, that he was suffocated in the struggle. 

Every anecdote of Philemon, down to the tragi- 
comic one which closed his existence, recommends 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. llll 

him to our esteem. He is said to have possessed 
infinite good-humour; and to the ease and gaiety 
of his manners and amiable character he was, pro- 
bably, more indebted for his many triumphs over 
Menander, than to any superiority as a writer. 
# [Everything seems to have been so well tempered 
within him, all violent and malignant passions to 
have been held in such perfect subjection, and all 
the more engaging and estimable qualities to have 
been allowed such free indulgence, that his consti- 
tution suffered no violence from pent-up emotions, 
and his body no diminution of vigour from the jar- 
ring, gloomy or furious elements of his mind. He 
did not indulge in the luxuries of the table, which, 
as they pamper, irritate and inflame, are, at least, 
one of the sources from which the most dangerous 
disorders of temper, intellect, and constitution, de- 
rive their growth. Owing to these causes, he 
reached the very advanced age of one hundred and 
one years.] 

The Fragments of Philemon that have come down 
to us bespeak a mind tranquil and unruffled, capa- 
ble, from its intimacy with the human heart and all 
its intricacies, to dictate what is for the good of 



* The passage included between brackets is in the edition of 
1806, p. li., but omitted in that of 1813.— J. H. M. 



liv MR. bland's preface 

mankind, but content with gentle admonition and 
persuasion. 

I have thus briefly recapitulated what I knew of 
a few principal originals from which I have made 
translations. Some names, with an occasional re- 
mark or an anecdote, will find a place in the notes 
subjoined. 

# [Something may here be expected from me in 
excuse for the number of modern trifles introduced 
into the notes, partly on their own account, and 
partly for the purpose of illustrating the triflers of 
Greece. — They may be said to form a book upon 
a book. These happy nothings are principally of 
French origin ; and those whose taste is little flat- 
tered by the simple soupe a la Grecque, may not 
dislike the seasoning of the soupe a. la Franchise. 

The names of Moncrif, Chaulieu, Racine, J. B. 
Rousseau, Mad. Deshoulieres, Pannard, the Com- 



* The passage included between brackets is added in the edi- 
tion of 1813. It must be observed that the greater part of this 
added passage will be found inapplicable to the present edition, in 
which it has been endeavoured to obviate the too just censure of 
a now Right Reverend critic, by leaving out of the Notes all that 
he complained of as being, " to speak the truth in the words of 
Cicero — otio et Uteris intemperanter abuti." For the remainder 
of the critical remarks included between these brackets, the Editor 
begs not to be considered as wishing to render himself entirely 
responsible. — J. H. M. 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. Iv 

tesse de Murat, Maillard, Boileau and Bernard, are, 
it is hoped, sufficient to excuse their introduction, 
even though a little forced, into the service of the 
ancients. Not to speak of their more important 
works, by which many of these names have become 
immortal, no modern authors have so gracefully re- 
laxed from labour, and none have trifled with equal 
playfulness and success. The French madrigal is, be- 
sides, the very fac-simile of the old Greek epigram. 
In comparing the epigram of the wittiest modern na- 
tion with that of Martial, modern times have nothing 
to regret. The character of these trifles has never yet 
been impressed on English literature, except by the 
few imitations of Prior ; and we are reproached to 
this day, by the best of their critical writers on 
the comparative literature of nations *, with our su- 
perfluity of words ; we are said to be yet strangers 
to the charm of that definite, close, and graceful ex- 
pression, termed by her " le langage serre." This 
language, which she affirms to be utterly unknown 
to our prose, and which, with the exception of Gold- 
smith, Collins, and Gray, has been banished from 
our verse since the sera of Dryden and of Pope, has 
now left us altogether. Poetry has, for the first 
time, been induced to submit itself to fashion. Man- 

* Madame de Stael. 



lvi MR. blank's preface 

nerism has become the substitute for character, 
oddity for meaning, the infinite and indefinite of 
description for thought, and a grotesque jingle for 
harmony of numbers. This latter excellence, which 
is the very soul of poetry, without which the very 
term has no meaning, and which, when allied to the 
charm of diction and of style, forms the only distinc- 
tive barrier between poetry and prose, this compa- 
rative music, so difficult to be elicited from a North- 
ern language, which cost the successive effort and 
improvement of every great writer, until it reached 
its point of perfection in the more finished cadences 
to be found scattered at intervals in different parts 
of Dryden, has been voluntarily abandoned, and 
again we court a barbarism from which it was so 
hard to emerge. Every thought, from the most 
pleasing to the most sublime, may find utterance in 
unmeasured language. Music, cadence, harmony 
alone, exalt the thought, so conceived, to that ex- 
cellence which deserves the name and title of poetry. 
Those authors who arise so congenial with their 
times, that they appear expected and called-for by 
the existing modes, habits, and feelings of society, 
should remember that, with the passing away of 
those times, they pass away also. 

These attempts at ancient uncouthness, like the 
cements which are at present invented in imitation 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. lVll 

of stone, may answer their purpose for a period. 
A few rains, succeeded by a few frosts, lay open 
the imposition in the edifice ; their decay resembles 
not that of age ; it claims from us no reverence ; we 
cannot respect them in their mouldering state ; it is 
the premature decay of youth, accelerated by de- 
bauch ; and even in their ruins there is levity and 
folly. 

To this compliance with fashion we must attribute 
the unreasonable eulogies bestowed one year on 
writers, who, before the expiration of two lustres, 
become unpopular with equal want of reason. Those 
only can live, whose feelings and reasonings are so 
true and general as to be affected by no artificial pre- 
paration in matters of judgement, wit, and taste. 

They are " the men of old/' as Rousseau has it, 
" living in modern times." But their sentiments 
are those of nature, of unyielding and unchanging 
nature ; and the modern times to come, whose 
fashions shall have assumed a new, and possibly a 
contrary bent, shall be their advocates and admirers. 
" That which good taste has once approved," says 
the same author, " is ever good. If it be seldom 
fashionable, on the other hand it is never absurd ; 
and it derives from the congruity of things sure and 
unalterable rules, which remain when the fashions 
themselves are no more." True taste, it may be 



lviii mr. bland's preface 

added, refuses all accommodation with fashion, 
every attempt at a composition or compromise, and 
sooner than yield in her pretensions, contents her- 
self with obscurity, until the times themselves shall 
come round and bow to her jurisdiction. The author 
who aspires to after ages, should take leave of the 
age in which he lives. To be drawn into the vortex 
of fashionable writing, is to pass that gate on which 
is inscribed 

" Voi che intrate, lasciate ogni speranza." 

The charm of the French madrigal, like that of 
the Greek epigram, consists in the perfect adapta- 
tion of each word to the impression intended to be 
made, the exclusion of synonymes, the rare and 
happy epithet, the fine and delicate turn which em- 
bellishes a thought trivial and familiar ; and, above 
all, in that virtue, which modern English writers 
utterly explode, conciseness. The subjects too are 
rationally chosen. Here are no tender oglings of a 
tulip, no ecstasies at infantine remembrances, no 
prostrations before a butterfly, no melancholy strains 
on the neglected virtues of a robin redbreast. The 
themes also are not below the level of common un- 
derstanding, and, in general, much good sense is 
couched beneath the happy trifle. 

The scheme of our Work naturally induced some 
disquisition into the Fugitive Pieces of ancient and 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. 1'lX 

modern Europe. It now remains for me to notice 
an irregularity which nearly affects that translator 
whose name appears on the title-page. It will 
doubtless appear strange, that, of the two principal 
authors, he who has contributed the least portion 
of the body of the work, should be most prominent 
to the public. While he regrets the necessity, he 
has been compelled to yield to the instances of his 
associate; and has, at the same time, been induced, 
by the representations of their publisher, who ob- 
jected to the plan of a book entirely anonymous, to 
suffer his own name to appear in a place to which it 
is entitled no otherwise than by participation. As the 
signatures affixed to the different metrical pieces 
will do but half justice to his friend, it is a duty im- 
posed on him, by his consideration for his associate 
and for the reader, to declare that this participation 
extends, in an equal proportion, to the remainder of 
the work.] 

To return to the Epigrams. — It has been my en- 
deavour to avoid any needless discussion on their 
merits. They have had their enemies and protectors. 
From bad specimens of the later poets, Lord Ches- 
terfield was probably led to utter his interdict against 
the whole body. Nay, such was that nobleman's 
vivacity in thinking and speaking, that he not im- 
probably formed his opinion from a hint dropped in 



IX MR. BLAND'S PREFACE 

conversation, and not from any intimate acquaint- 
ance with the species of composition which he has 
most inconsiderately reviled. A few of His Lord- 
ship's admirers caught the idea, and ignorance and 
stupidity joined in the hue and cry, led on by 
fashion and ability. 

On the other hand, they found an admirer them- 
selves in Dr. Johnson, who filled up the intervals of 
pain, during his last illness, in translating several of 
them into Latin. And Mr. Cumberland has pre- 
sented us, in his Observer, with some which he has 
rendered into our own language, but more particu- 
larly Fragments from the Comic Poets. 

The estimation in which they were held in the 
country which gave them birth, is evinced by the 
care taken to preserve them at different periods, and 
when the difficulties of collecting and collating were 
infinitely greater than among ourselves. But the 
mother country knew exactly how to appreciate their 
value, by assigning to them the real place which 
they were destined to hold with honour. They were 
considered in general as pleasing and light pastimes 
to the poet and his reader, and no unfair demands 
were made upon such modest professions. Since 
those days their friends and enemies have equally 
conspired against them ; their enemies by accusing 
them of a deficiency in point, equivoque, and hu- 



TO THE TWO FORMER EDITIONS. lxi 

mour, at which they seldom aim ; their friends, by 
indiscriminately praising the whole body, by ad- 
vancing them to a degree of consequence for which 
they are unfitted, and by venerating what they 
should only esteem. 

They have stood the test of ages, and while tried 
by their own laws were not found wanting. The 
charge of simplicity was subject to no penalties or 
censures among the Greeks : let us not then impose 
laws on them with which they were unacquainted, 
and from which they cannot escape uncensured. 
But it is time that I put an end to my remarks, lest 
I should be numbered among those false friends who 
injure the cause which they seem to defend, by di- 
lating what had been more seasonably compressed, 
and giving dignity to trifles. 



PROLOGUE. 



Thou little wreath, by Fancy twin'd 
In Summer's sun and Winter's wind, 
That thro' an age of deepest gloom 
Hast kept thy fragrance and thy bloom, 
Tho' now whole centuries have roll'd, 
And nations, since thy birth, grown old, 



Ixii 



PROLOGUE. 

Tho' Time have wither' d many a leaf, 
And silent Envy play'd the thief, 
And clowns have breath'd in evil hour 
A poison into thy sweet flower, — 
Yet dost thou live — nor tyrants' rage 
Hath nipp'd thee quite, nor wars, nor age. 

Yet not, as once, the gentle earth 
Thou dost adorn that gave thee birth, 
When, all unforc'd by pains and toil, 
Wild shooting in thy native soil, 
The sweetest buds that deck'd the land 
Were pluck' d by Meleager's hand, 
Who curl'd Anacreon's blushing vine 
Around Erinna's eglantine, 
And Myro's lilies cull'd, to shade 
The roses of the Lesbian Maid, 
And pluck' d the myrtle from thy grove, 
Callimachus, the sprig of love. 
With these my venturous hand shall wreathe 
The baleful plants that sadly breathe, 
That with a sigh the Tragic Muse 
Around her path majestic strews ; 
And I will twine, these flowers among, 
Menander, prince of comic song I 
Pluck' d from thy many garlands bright, 
So charming once and new to sight, 
Some honours spar'd by age and clime, 
That live to grace an after-time. 
Our unavailing sorrows mourn 
Thy roses pale, thy lilies torn ; 



prologue. lxiii 

Thy garden rifled of its bloom, 

Thy violets robb'd of their perfume : 

Thy gaudy tulips now have lost 

Their smiles by many a chilling frost ; 

Thy Spring's rich wardrobe now is scant ; 

And now some sad and wintery plant, 

Some wither'd shrub of power malign, 

Of all that grac'd thy garden fine 

Remains of thee, or sickly yew, 

Where buds of heavenly fragrance grew, 

Or mourner cypress spreads a shade, 

Or plant of Daphne, hapless maid ! 

Yet, 'mid the melancholy night, 

Some scatter'd honours give delight, 

And here and there a rose is found 

Neglected on the chilly ground, 

And a chance lily sheds its snow 

Beneath the darker shrubs of woe. 

Oh, not as erst, thou modest wreath, 

Shalt thou of all thy fragrance breathe ! 

Oh, not as erst, when Genius knew 

To give thy colours to the view, 

And Taste was ready to display 

The flowers that fell in Fancy's way ! 

For zephyrs soft that fann'd thy youth, 

How wilt thou meet the gale uncouth ? 

Torn from a genial Summer's smile, 

How wilt thou bear a northern isle ? 

Far from thy home and native sky, 

Meek stranger, wilt thou live or die ? B. 



lxiv EPILOGUE. 



EPILOGUE. 

'Tis past — and o'er her laurels torn 
The Queen of Nations bends to mourn, 
The Nurse of heroes crouches low, 
Slave to a base ignoble foe. 
Seas, where triumphant fleets unfurl'd 
Their banners that o'eraw'd the wflrld, 
Lands peopled by the wise and brave, 
Abode of patriots and their grave, 
Fields, where the early Muse awoke, 
And tuneful reeds the silence broke, 
Mountains (retreat of gods), and vales - 
That give their fragrance to the gales, 
Rivers, from steepy heights that fell, 
Where, tenants of each sparry cell, 
Beneath your waters fring'd with flowers 
The Nymphs of Fountains pass'd their hours, 
While on your margin stretch' d along 
The poet dream'd or tun'd his song, 
At which the Dryads would appear, 
And sylvan boys run out to hear ; — 
Dim are your glories, sunk your name, 
And all has perish' d but the fame 
That never shall thro' time decay, 
While nations rise and melt away. 



EPILOGUE. ]XV 

Fraught with the treasures of the past, 
As years to years succeeding haste, 
What tho' in ev'ry age we trace 
A moral for the coming race, 
In vain we backward cast our eyes 
On follies, crimes, and miseries, 
From war and havoc shrink in vain, 
And all is acted o'er again. 
Dead are the bards — but living lays 
Resound and tell of early days, 
And still the trembling chords prolong 
Untouch' d the power of ancient song ; 
Dear is their minstrelsy, that floats 
In solemn, sweet, and liquid notes, 
That registers the orphan's sigh, 
The plighted lover's perjury, 
The pride of riches and of power, 
The mirthful, and the mournful hour ; 
That paints the virgin in her bloom, 
The triumph, banquet, and the tomb, 
The deeds of mighty chiefs, who broke 
The tyrant's chain, and spurn' d his yoke, 
And then by Beauty's arms subdued 
Were led in willing servitude. 
Dear are the records that unfold 
The pleasures and the cares of old, 
And bid us in the past descry 
The visions of Futurity. B. 



TABLE OF AUTHORS. 



iEscHYLUS page 93 

Alcaeus 27 

Alcaeus (Mess.) 187 

Alcman 39 

Alexander (^Et.) 173 

Anacreon 41 

Antagoras 152 

Antipater 201, 238 

Anyte 115 

Aratus 146 

Archilochus 1 

Arion 10 

Ariphron 89 

Aristotle 91, 109 

Asclepiades .........*.. 121 

Bacchylides 75 

Bias 83 

Bion 164 

Callimachus 174 

Callistratus 84 

Cleobulus.... 53 

Damagetes 195 

Dioscorides 190 

Diotimus 143 

Empedocles 95 

Erirma 23 

Euenus 96 

Euphorion 148 

Hedylus 184 

Hegesippus ...147, 238 

Hermodorus 154 

Hybrias 88 

Ibycus 37 

Leonidas 127 



Melanippides page 40 

Meleager ...* 210 

Menecrates 181 

Metrodorus 199 

Mnasalcus 110 

Moschus 167 

Myro US 

Nicaenetus , 171 

Nicias 141 

Nossis 113 

Pamphilus 150 

Pancrates 151 

Perses 194 

Phaedimus 153 

Phaennus 149 

Pittacus 82 

Plato 100 

Polystratus 193 

Posidippus 198 

Rhianus 182 

Samius 186 

Sappho 12 

Scolla (various) 81 

Simmias (Rhod.) 120 

Simmias (Theb.) 99 

Simonides 54 

Speusippus 108 

Stesichorus 33 

Theocritus 155 

Theodoridas 197 

Timocreon 90 

Tymneus 191 

Uncertain Authors 239 



HMI2Y MET ¥TXH2 ETI TO IINEON. 

(Callimachus.) 



STANZAS FROM BYRON. 

The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece ! 

Where burning Sappho lov'd and sung, 
Where grew the arts of war and peace, — 

Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung ! 
Eternal summer gilds them yet, 
But all, except their sun, is set. 

The Scian and the Teian muse, 
The hero's harp, the lover's lute, 

Have found the fame your shores refuse ; 
Their place of birth alone is mute 

To sounds which echo further West 

Than your sires' Islands of the Blest. 

' Fill high the bowl with Samian wine ! 

We will not think of themes like these ; 
It made Anacreon's song divine : 

He serv'd — but serv'd Polycrates — 
A tyrant — but our masters then 
Were still, at least, our countrymen. 



" Fill liigh the bowl with Samian wine ! 
Our virgins dance beneath the shade — 
I see their glorious black eyes shine ; 
But, gazing on each glowing maid, 
My own the burning tear-drop laves, 
To think such breasts must suckle slaves. 

" Place me on Sunium's marbled steep, 
Where nothing, save the waves and I, 
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep : 

There, swan-like, let me sing and die : 
A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine — 
— Dash down your cup of Samian wine ! ' 



COLLECTIONS. 



PART I. 

CONTAINING SPECIMENS OF THE EARLY LYRIC POETS. 



ARCHILOCHUS.* 

JL HE name of Archilochus is deservedly placed at the head 
of this Collection, as not only the earliest in date, but one 
of the foremost in celebrity, of those commemorated by 
Meleager as forming a part of his Wreath, or Crown, of 
Flowers, in the fanciful Prologue already noticed. A distich 
is there assigned him, descriptive alike of the pungency of 
his satire and the scarcity of the remnants of his poetry, 
under the emblem of a Thistle. 

"Ev 8k /ecu e/e <pop(3rjs <r/co\i6rpi%os dvOos dicavOes 
'Apxikoxov, fjuKpas arpayyas arc' ojKeavov. 

To the account which is given of him in almost every 
Biographical Dictionary, beginning with Bayle, by whom 

* Jacobs, Anth. Graec. Lips. 1794. Tom. i. p. 40 et seq. 



J, ARCHILOCHUS. 

his name is connected with abundance of learned though 
whimsical illustration, little in substance will be found to 
have been added by the industry of his most learned com- 
mentators, — amongst whom it is enough to refer to the 
" Recherches sur la Vie et sur les Ouvrages d'Archiloque," 
contained in the " Memoires de l'Academie des Inscrip- 
tions," t. xiv. p. 55, and to the late edition of his Works by 
Liebel (Lips. 1812). Of the many poetical compositions 
ascribed to him, we possess, with the exception of a single 
Epigram, comprised in a distich of antique simplicity, only 
a few scattered fragments ; some elegiac — but mostly lyri- 
cal, and in the rapid trochaic measure, which in the ensuing 
versions it has been generally attempted to preserve : no- 
thing, however, or next to nothing, that appears to justify 
the character assigned to him, and which we must presume 
to have been merited by his lost Iambics. 

With respect to chronology, Archilochus is placed by 
Tatian, (see Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, vol. i. p. 296,) as 
having nourished about the twenty-third Olympiad, cor- 
responding with the year 688 B. C, towards the end of 
the reign of Gyges king of Lydia ; that is to say, about 
five hundred years later than the date commonly ascribed 
to the Trojan war, and two hundred years previous to the 
battle of Marathon. 

The memorial of his life, so far as is necessary to the ex- 
planation of the few fragments of his works which remain 
to us, may be reduced to the compass of the following 
facts. He was born at Paros, of one of the noblest families 
in that island, whence he emigrated, at the age of twenty, 
to Thasos, on the occasion of the foundation of a colony of 
Parians, an event which Herodotus has recorded. He is 



ARCHILOCHUS. 3 

among the first on the long list of soldier-poets ; and, in 
the course of his military career, an event happened to him 
in the loss of his shield, which seems to have exposed him 
to the sarcasm of some of his contemporaries, and which 
forms the subject of an allusion in one of his ensuing Frag- 
ments. His marriage with Neobule, daughter of Lycambes, 
— which, as some say, proceeded no further than to a mere 
contract, broken by the avarice of the father — is a circum- 
stance rendered memorable by the strange story attached 
to it of poetical vengeance, and of its fatal consequences. 
Horace, who made the writings of Archilochus, in his time 
extant, the subject both of his study and imitation, more 
than once alludes to this singular catastrophe ; but in all 
that now survives of the poet we find, besides a few dis- 
jointed fragments, to which the ingenuity of commentators 
has been applied in detecting fancied allusions, only a single 
line containing any clear reference to the connexion which 
gave rise to it; and that line the exclamation, not of a 
furious satirist, but of a tender and passionate lover. 

Et yap ws 

efiol yevoiro %etpa Neo/3ouX^s OiyeTv. 

All that remains to be said in this place is, that the poet 
appears to have led a life of poverty and misfortune ; the 
cause, perhaps, at once, and consequence, of the malevo- 
lent humour for which he is so distinguished. 



b 2 



ARCHILOCHUS. 



FRAGMENTS. 



[N.B. The figures prefixed to each poem denote the number in the 

Original Text. 
The pieces marked with an asterisk (*) are those already published, 

with the number of the page annexed, in the edition of 1813.] 



I. (1, 6, 7.) FROM AN ELEGY ON A SHIPWRECK. 
* p. 179. m. 

Loud are our griefs, my friend ; and vain is he 
Would steep the sense in mirth and revelry. 
O'er those we mourn the hoarse-resounding wave 
Hath clos'd, and whelm'd them in their ocean grave. 
Deep sorrow swells each breast. But Heaven bestows 
One healing med'cine for severest woes, 
— Resolv'd endurance — for Affliction pours 
To all by turns, — today the cup is ours. 
Bear bravely, then, the common trial sent, 
And cast away your womanish lament ! 



Ah ! had it been the will of Heav'n to save 
His honour'd reliques from a nameless grave ! 
Had we but seen th' accustom'd flames aspire, 
And wrap his corse in purifying fire ! 



Yet what avails it to lament the dead ? 
Say, will it profit aught to shroud our head, 
And wear away in grief the fleeting hours, 
Rather than 'mid bright nymphs in rosy bowers ? 



ARCH1L0CHUS. I 

II. (3.) ON THE LOSS OF HIS SHIELD, m. 

The foe-man glories in my shield— 
I left it on the battle field; 
I threw it down beside the wood, 
Unscath'd by scars, unstain'd with blood. 
And let him glory ! Since, from death 
Escap'd, I keep my forfeit breath, 
I soon may find, at little cost, 
As good a shield as that I 've lost. 

III. (4.) THE CLOSE FIGHT. w 

Bows will not avail thee, 

Darts and slings will fail thee, 
When Mars tumultuous rages 
On wide embattled land. 

Then with faulchions clashing, 

Eyes with fury flashing, 
Man with man engages 
In combat, hand to hand. 
But most Eubcea's chiefs are known, 
Marshal'd hosts of spearmen leading 
To conflict whence is no receding, 
To make this — war's best art — their own. 



IV. (5.) CONVIVIAL. cm. 

Come then, my friend, and seize the flask, 
And while the deck around us rolls, 

Dash we the cover from the cask, 

And crown with wine our flowing bowls. 



ARCHILOCHUS. 

While the deep hold is tempest-tost, 
We '11 strain bright nectar from the lees 

For, tho' our freedom here be lost, 
We drink no water on the seas. 



V. (9.) A PAIR OF MILITARY PORTRAITS, m. 

Boast me not your valiant captain, 
strutting fierce with measur'd stride, 

Glorying in his well-trimm'd beard, and 
wavy ringlets' cluster' d pride. 

Mine be he that 's short of stature, 

firm of foot, with curved knee ; 
Heart of oak in limb and feature, 

and of courage bold and free. 



VI. (10.) RICHES AND POWER. 

For Gyges' wealth let others care, 

Gold is nothing to me ; 
Envy of another's share 

Never shall undo me. 



Nothing that the Gods decree 
Moves my special wonder ; 

And as for boastful tyranny — 
We 're too far asunder. 



ARCHILOCHUS. 



VII. (11.) THE MIND OF MAN. 

The mind of man is such as Jove 
Ordains by his immortal will, 

Who moulds it in his courts above, 
His heav'nly purpose to fulfil. 



VIII. (13.) THE STORM. m. 

Behold, my Glaucus ! how the deep 

Heaves, while the sweeping billows howl, 

And round the promontory steep 

The big black clouds portentous scowl, 

With thunder fraught and lightning's glare, 

While Terror rules, and wild Despair. 



IX. (14, 15.) MORAL. 

Soul ! O Soul ! when round thee whelming 

cares like mountain surges close, 
Patient bear their mighty rage, and 

with thy strength their strength oppose. 
Be a manly breast your bulwark, 

your defence firm-planted feet ; 
So the serried line of hostile 

spears with calm composure meet. 
Yet in Vict'ry's golden hour, 

raise not your proud vaunts too high ; 



ARCHILOCHUS. 

Nor, if vanquish'd, meanly stooping 
pierce with loud lament the sky : 

But in prosp'rous fortune so re- 
joice, and in reverses mourn, 

As well knowing what is destin'd 
for the race of woman born. 



Leave the gods to order all things : 

often from the gulf of woe 
They exalt the poor man grov'ling 

in the gloomy shades below ; 
Often turn again, and prostrate 

lay in dust the loftiest head, 
Dooming him thro' life to wander, 

reft of sense, and wanting bread. 



X. (16.) THE ECLIPSE. m. 

Never man again may swear 

things still shall be as erst they were ; 
Never more in wonder stare, 

since Jove the Olympian thunderer 
Bade the sun's meridian splendour 

hide in shades of thickest night ; 
While th' affrighted nations started, 

trembling at the fearful sight. 
Who shall dare to doubt hereafter 

whatsoever man may say? 
Who refuse with stupid laughter 

credence to the wildest lay r 



ARCHILOCHUS, 



Tho' for pasture dolphins ranging, 
leap the hills, and scour the wood, 

And fierce wolves, their nature changing, 
dive beneath th' astonish'd flood. 



XI. (17, 18, 19.) ON LIFE AND DEATH. 

Jove sits in highest Heav'n, and opes the springs, 
To man, of monstrous and forbidden things. 
Death seals the fountains of reward and fame : 
Man dies, and leaves no guardian of his name. 
Applause awaits us only while we live, 
While we can honour take, and honour give : 
Yet were it base for man, of woman born, 
To mock the naked ghost with jests or scorn. 



XII. (21, 22.) THE ISLAND THASOS. 
Like the sharp back-bone of an ass it stood, 
That rugged Isle, o'ergrown with shaggy wood. 
No verdant grot, no lawn for poet's dream, 
Is there, like those by Siris' pleasant stream. 



B J 



10 ARION. 



ARION.* 

The fabulous history of Arion, and his preservation on the 
back of a dolphin, is familiar to every reader. The follow- 
ing Hymn is quoted and attributed to him by iElian (de 
Nat. Anim. xii. 45), who has also preserved a distich on 
the same subject, which he affirms to have been inscribed 
on a statue of the poet. Great doubt has been thrown on 
its authenticity, by the circumstance of the statue having 
been mentioned, without notice of any inscription, by He- 
rodotus and others ; and neither inscription nor hymn can 
well be regarded in any other light than apocryphal. The 
principal poem, however, is at least deserving of the reve- 
rence due to great, though uncertain, antiquity ; and we 
have followed Jacobs in the chronological order here as- 
signed to it. 



THE HYMN OF ARION. c. m. 

Hail, Neptune, greatest of the gods ! 
Thou ruler of the salt sea floods : 
Thou with the deep and dark-green hair, 
That dost the golden trident bear : 

* Jacobs, torn. i. p. 48. 



ARION. 11 

Thou that with either arm outspread 
Embosomest the earth we tread : 
Thine are the beasts with fins and scales 
That, round thy chariot, as it sails, 
Plunging and tumbling, fast and free, 
All reckless follow o'er the sea. 
Thine are the gentle dolphin throng, 
That love and listen to the song ; 
With whom the sister Nereids stray, 
And in their crystal caverns play. 
They bore me well to Pelops' isle, 
And Sparta's rocky mountain-pile ; 
And thro' the deep Sicilian sea, 
The briny champain plough'd for me ; 
When wicked men had cast me o'er 
Our vessel's side, into the roar 
Of clashing waters, and a grave 
Yawn'd for me in the purple wave. 



12 SAPPHO, 



SAPPHO.* 

Of this great poetess, besides the immortal fragment, and 
the Hymn to Venus, rendered familiar to the English reader 
by the versions of Ambrose Philips, nothing of importance 
in any degree commensurate with her fame has been pre- 
served to us. As respects those exquisite reliques, we 
might perhaps have been excused from adding to the num- 
ber of attempts which have been subsequently made to give 
the English reader a more correct impression of their ini- 
mitable beauties. All such endeavours must more or less 
partake the character of decided failures, since the graces 
of the original, principally residing in the inexpressible 
charm of language, are of a nature essentially untrans- 
latable. But, although their chief, these are not their only 
excellencies ; and that they possess others which are more 
within the scope of imitation, may be held a sufficient apo- 
logy for a new trial. 

It remains to be said, for the sake of chronological me- 
thod, that the date assigned as that of the sera at which 
Sappho nourished is B.C. 610, more than seventy years 
later than Archilochus, and fifty before Anacreon ; and con- 
sequently that her reputed amour with the latter poet is to 
be classed among the splendid fictions, the " magnanime 
mensogne" of early romance, having perhaps the poet Her- 

* Sapphonis Fragmenta. (Museum Criticum, vol. i. p. 1.) 



SAPPHO. 33 

mesianax, who lived about three hundred years after her, 
for its inventor. 

The only portions of Sappho's poetry received by Jacobs 
into his Anthology are three Epigrams, neither of them pos- 
sessing any extraordinary merit. The Ode and Fragments 
are all excluded, though upon what principle of selection it 
is difficult to imagine, since the lyrical fragments of other 
ancient poets have been retained. The order observed in 
the following versions is that of Bishop Blomfield, in the 
Museum Criticum, which has been adoj)ted for reference, 
as exhibiting the most correct, as well as the completest, 
edition of the works of this poetess ; comparing it, how- 
ever, with that by Volger (1810), as well as with the quarto 
by Wolf, in which last are exhibited, together with all the 
pieces, genuine or apocryphal, ever ascribed to Sappho, a 
collection of such poems and poetical passages of antiquity 
as in any manner relate to her. 

For a lively criticism on the character, historical and 
poetical, of this most distinguished person, the reader is re- 
ferred to the article "On Greek Authoresses," in the Edin. 
Rev. No. CIX. To attempt, at this time of day, her vin- 
dication from aspersions as old at least as the Augustan 
age, would be the most absurd of literary Quixotism. But, 
so far as unfavourable inferences have been drawn from any 
passages of her writings now remaining to us, it may in 
fairness be asked whether, considering they are mere frag- 
ments, they amount to any sort of evidence ; since it is 
impossible to say whether the poetess is speaking in her 
own person, or in that of some imaginary character. 



14 SAPPHO. 



I. (I.) HYMN TO VENUS. 

Immortal Venus, thron'd above 
In radiant beauty ! Child of Jove ! 
O skill' d in every art of love, 
And artful snare ! 

Dread power, to whom I bend the knee ! 
Release my soul, and set it free 
From bonds of piercing agony, 
And gloomy care ! 

Yet come thyself! if e'er, benign, 
Thy list'ning ear thou didst incline 
To my rude lay, the starry shine 
Of Jove's court leaving, 

In chariot yok'd with coursers fair, 
Thine own immortal birds, that bear 
Thee swift to earth, the middle air 
With bright wings cleaving. 

Soon they were sped — and thou, most blest, 
In thine own smiles ambrosial drest, 
Didst ask what griefs my mind oppress' d — 
What meant my song — 

What end my phrensied thoughts pursue — 
For what lov'd youth I spread anew 
My amorous nets — " Who, Sappho, who 
Hath done thee wrong ? 



SAPPHO. 15 

What though he fly, he '11 soon return — 
Still press thy gifts, though now he spurn ; 
Heed not his coldness — soon he '11 burn, 
E'en though thou chide." 

— And saidst thou thus, dread goddess ? — O 
Come then once more to ease my woe ! 
Grant all ! — and thy great self bestow, 
My shield and guide ! 



II. (2.) ODE. Ets 'Epiofjievav. ] 

Blest as th' immortal Gods is he, 
The youth whose eyes may look on thee, 
Whose ears thy tongue's sweet melody 
May still devour ! 

Thou smilest too ? — sweet smile, whose charm 
Has struck my soul with wild alarm, 
And, when I see thee, bids disarm 
Each vital power. 

Speechless I gaze : the flame within 
Runs swift o'er all my quiv'ring skin ; 
My eye-balls swim ; with dizzy din 
My brain reels round; 

And cold drops fall ; and tremblings frail 
Seize every limb ; and grassy pale 
I grow ; and then — together fail 
Both sight and sound ! 



16 SAPPHO, 



FRAGMENTS. 



I. (3.) 

Planets, that round the beauteous moon 

Attendant wait, cast into shade 
Their ineffectual lustres, soon 
As she, in full-orb'd majesty array'd, 
Her silver radiance pours 
Upon this world of ours. 



II. (4.) 

Thro' orchard plots, with fragrance crown'd, 

The clear cold fountain murm'ring flows ; 
And forest leaves with rustling sound 
Invite to soft repose. 



III. (10.) anon. (Edin. Rev.) 

Come, Venus, come ! 
Hither with thy golden cup, 
Where nectar-floated flow'rets swim, 

Fill, fill the goblet up ! 
Thy laughing lips shall kiss the brim. 
Come, Venus, come ! 



SAPPHO. 17 

IV. (11.) *p.l25. b. 

Unknown, unheeded, shalt thou die, 

And no memorial shall proclaim, 
That once beneath the upper sky 

Thou hadst a being and a name. 

For never to the Muses' bowers 

Didst thou with glowing heart repair, 

Nor ever intertwine the flowers 

That fancy strews unnumber'd there. 

Doom'd o'er that dreary realm, alone, 
Shunn'd by the gentler shades, to go, 

Nor friend shall soothe, nor parent own 
The child of sloth, the Muses' foe. 



V. (15.) m. 

To what Admetus said of old attend, 
And guard within your breast his counsel, friend ! 
Cling to the Brave and Good — the Base disown — 
Whose best of fortunes is to live unknown." 



VI. (20.) 

Here, fairest Rhodope, recline ! 
And 'mid thy bright locks intertwine, 
With fingers soft as softest down, 
The ever verdant parsley crown. 



18 SAPPHO. 

The Gods are pleas'd with flow'rs that bloom, 
And leaves that shed divine perfume, 
But, if ungarlanded, despise 
The richest offer' d sacrifice. 



VII. (21.) A DIALOGUE. 

" Sweet Rose of May ! sweet Rose of May ! 

Whither, ah whither fled away ? " 
" What 's gone no time can e'er restore — 

I come no more — I come no more ! " 



VIII. (22.) 
Yes, yes, I own it true — 
Pleasure 's the good that I pursue. 
How blest is then my destiny, 
That I may love and honour too — 
So bright, so brave a love is that allotted me ! 



IX. (23.) ELTON. 

Mother ! sweet mother ! 'tis in vain — 

I cannot now the shuttle throw : 

That youth is in my heart and brain — 

And Venus' ling'ring fires within me glow. 



X. (28.) 
The silver moon is set ; 
The Pleiades are gone ; 
Half the long night is spent, — and yet, — 
I lie alone. 



SAPPHO. 19 

XI. (29.) m. 

Wealth, without virtue, is a dangerous guest : — 
Who holds them mingled, is supremely blest. 



XII. (45.) anon. (Edin. Rev.) 

Hesper ! every gift is thine — 
Thou bring' st the ladling from the rock ; 
Thou bring' st the damsel with the flock ; 
Thou bring'st us rosy wine. 



XIII. (51.) 

I have a child — a lovely one — 
In beauty like the golden sun, 
Or like sweet flow'rs of earliest bloom ; 
And Cle'is is her name — for whom 
I Lydia's treasures, were they mine, 
Would glad resign. 



XIV. (74.) anon. (Edin. Rev.) 

Beauty, fair flow'r, upon the surface lies : 
But Worth with Beauty soon in aspect vies. 



20 SAPPHO. 



EPITAPHS. 



I. (1.) ON A PRIESTESS OF DIANA. 

Does any ask ? I answer from the dead ; 

A voice that lives is graven o'er my head : 

To dark-ey'd Dian, ere my days begun, 

Aristo vow'd me, wife of Saon's son : 

Then hear thy priestess, hear, O Virgin power ! 

And thy best gifts on Saon's lineage show'r. 



II. (2.) ON A FISHERMAN. elton. 

This oar, and net, and fisher's wicker'd snare, 
Themiscus plac'd above his buried son — 

Memorials of the lot in life he bare, 
The hard and needy life of Pelagon. 



III. (3.) ON A BELOVED COMPANION, cm. 

Deep in the dreary chambers of the dead 
Asteria's ghost hath made her bridal bed. 
Still to this stone her fond compeers may turn, 
And shed their cherish' d tresses on her urn. 



SAPPHO. 21 



POEMS ASCRIBED TO SAPPHO. 



I. HYMN TO THE ROSE. * p. 56. boyd. 

If, on Creation's morn, the King of Heaven 

To shrubs and flowers a sovereign lord had given, 

O beauteous Rose, he had anointed thee 

Of shrubs and flowers the sovereign lord to be. 

The spotless emblem of unsullied truth, 

The smile of beauty and the glow of youth ; 

The garden's pride, the grace of vernal bowers, 

The blush of meadows, and the eye of flowers ; 

It beams resplendent as the orbs above, 

Inviting Paphia's form, and breathing love. 

Blooming with odorous leaves, and petals fair, 

In youthful pride it spreads its silken snare, 

By Zephyr kiss'd it laughs, and woos the fanning air. 



II. THE LOVES OF SAPPHO AND ANACREON. 

MOORE. 

Anacreon. 
Spirit of Love ! whose tresses shine 
Along the breeze, in golden twine, 
Come ! within a fragrant cloud, 
Blushing with light, thy votary shroud ; 
And, on those wings that sparkling play, 
Waft, oh ! waft me hence away ! 



22 SAPPHO. 

Love ! my soul is full of thee, 
Alive to all thy luxury: 
But she, the nymph for whom I glow, 
The pretty Lesbian mocks my woe ; 
Smiles at the hoar and silver'd hues 
Which Time upon my forehead strews. 
Alas ! I fear she keeps her charms 
In store for younger, happier arms. 

Sappho. 
O Muse, who sitt'st on golden throne ! 
Full many a hymn of dulcet tone 

The Teian sage is taught by thee. 
But, Goddess ! from thy throne of gold, 
The sweetest hymn thou 'st ever told, 

He lately learn'd and sang for me. 



III. THE LOVES OF SAPPHO AND ALCLEUS. 

ANON 

Aloeus. 
I fain would speak — I fain would tell ; 
But shame and fear my utterance quell. 

Sappho. 
If aught of good, if aught of fair, 
Thy tongue were labouring to declare, 
Nor shame should dash thy glance, nor fear 
Forbid thy suit to reach my ear. 



ERINNA 23 



ERINNA.* 

" TXvkvi/ 'Kpivvrjs TrapQevoxpwTa Kpoxov." 

The crocus, or saffron-flower, is the emblem assigned to 
this poetess in the Garland of Meleager, on account of its 
maiden paleness; as in Cymbeline — 

" The flow'r that 's like thy face, pale primrose." 

Of the three epigrams ascribed to her, a version of each 
of which is here offered, in the order in which they are 
placed by Brunck and Jacobs, the first is observed to be in 
a different style from that of the other two ; and, as in many 
other instances, ancient commentators have endeavoured to 
account for the difference by a supposition, probably gra- 
tuitous, of there having been a multiplicity of Erinnas. 
Not to waste time, however, in vain conjecture, it may be 
permitted us to adopt the common tradition which makes 
her contemporary with — perhaps a companion of — Sappho, 
and which attributes to her the praise of beauty and genius, 
with the tender accompaniment of an early death. She is 
celebrated, on all these accounts, by Asclepiades (No. 35) ; 
by Antipater Sidonius, in an epigram after inserted ; and by 
an uncertain author, in another epigram (No. 523), which 
commemorates a poem of her composing under the title of 
" The Distaff," 'HXairarjy, stating it to have consisted of 

* Jacobs, torn. i. p. 59. 



24 ERINNA. 

three hundred verses, although she is designated by An- 
tipater as the ' Word-sparing,' — Uavpoe7r{]s. She is there 
also asserted to have been as much the superior of Sappho 
in her hexameters or heroic verses, as she was inferior to 
that great poetess in lyrical composition. 

It is observed by a recent critic already referred to, that 
"An Ode to Rome — not, as Grotius would have it, to Forti- 
tude, — which is sometimes ascribed to her, must be the pro- 
duction of a later writer ; " a criticism in which we, some- 
what reluctantly, are forced to agree, though Grotius is 
unjustly censured for having fallen into the error of Sto- 
baeus, who preserved it in his "Florilegium" under the title 
'AvlpeLa, Fortitude. And, since Brunck has retained it in 
his Analecta, we have not scrupled to insert a version of it 
in this place, notwithstanding our conviction that it must 
be regarded as merely apocryphal. 



I. (1.) ON A PORTRAIT. 

From skilful hands my being I derive, 
O best Prometheus ! own that human art 
May with thy plastic power not vainly strive. 
Here Agatharchis breathes — in every part, 
Save that she wants the charm of voice, alive. 



II. (2.) ON A BELOVED COMPANION. * p. 285. 

Say, ye cold pillars, aM thou weeping urn, 
And sculptur'd Sirens that appear to mourn, 



ERINNA. 25 

And guard, within, my poor and senseless dust, 
Consign'd by fondest memory to your trust — 
Say to the stranger, as he muses nigh, 
That Ida's ashes here lamented lie, 
Of noble lineage, — that Erinna's love 
Thus mourns the partner of her joys above. 



III. (3.) THE SAME SUBJECT. * p. 284. m. 

I am the tomb of Ida, hapless bride ! 

Unto this pillar, traveller, turn aside ; 

Turn to this tearworn monument, and say, 

O envious Death, to charm this life away !" 

These mystic emblems all too plainly show 

The bitter fate of her who sleeps below : 

The very torch that laughing Hymen bore 

To light the virgin to the bridegroom's door, 

With that same torch the bridegroom lights the fire 

That dimly glimmers on her funeral pyre. 

Thou too, O Hymen ! bidst the nuptial lay 

In elegiac moanings die away. 



IV. ODE. 

Eis rtjv 'Pu)[xr)v. 
Daughter of Mars ! Hail, mighty Power ! 

Stern Queen, with golden crown array'd ! 
Who build'st on earth thy regal tower, 
A high Olympus, ne'er assay'd ! 
c 



26 ERINNA. 

To thee alone hath awful Fate 
The pride of vast dominion lent ; 

The strength to bind a rising state 
In bonds of order' d government. 

Beneath thy yoke's compelling beam 
Unmeasur'd Earth, and Ocean hoar 

Together bend ; whilst thou, supreme, 
The nations rul'st from shore to shore. 

E'en mightiest Time, whose laws prevail 
To change the world at his decree, 

Can never turn the prosp'rous gale 
That swells thy potent sov'reignty. 

Of thee alone a race is born, 

The first to blaze in glorious fight, 

Like spiky ranks of waving corn, 
That Ceres marshals, golden-bright. 



ALC^EUS. 27 



ALCJEUSf. 

'AXicaiov Se \d\t]9pov ev vfxvoiroXois vaKivQov. (Meleager. I. 13.) 

Having fixed the chronology of Sappho, it becomes unne- 
cessary to say more of the period of Alcseus, than that he is 
admitted on all hands to have been contemporary with that 
great poetess, of whom he was also the fellow-countryman, 
and, according to ancient and not improbable tradition, a 
favoured admirer. Like Archilochus, he united in his per- 
son the military to the poetical character, and — which is 
not a little remarkable — was, like him, also celebrated for 
having saved his life, with the loss of his shield, by flight. 
This incident occurred to him in a battle with the Athe- 
nians ; and, such was the reputation he then enjoyed, that 
the victors triumphantly suspended the trophy in the tem- 
ple of Minerva, while the poet consoled himself for the dis- 
grace by commemorating it in the following words pre- 
served by Strabo (as Wesseling conjectures them to have 
been written) : 

'AXkcuos crwos, dp' oi evrea d' ov%- 
" Alcaeus is safe, tho' his arms are lost." 

As a warrior and patriot, the name of Alcseus is impe- 
rishably associated with that stern and unrelenting spirit 
of enmity to tyranny or monarchical government, by which 
the cities and islands of Greece had in his time already 

t "Alcaei Mitylenaei Fragmenta." Museum Criticum, vol. i. p. 421. 
C 2 



28 ALCiEUS. 

begun to be distinguished, and which shortly afterwards 
became their most striking characteristic. As a poet, he 
has been commended by the ancients for the union of 
"magnificence with brevity, of sweetness with consum- 
mate strength of expression, of the use of figure and meta- 
phor with perspicuity;" while by others he is recorded, in 
conjunction with Anacreon, as having passed his life in 
familiar intercourse with his books, which he regarded in 
the light of friends and companions ; and that, " whatever 
happened to him he was in the habit of making the subject 
of poetical celebration, — whether it partook of joy or sor- 
row, whether loves or festivals, the dangers of battle or the 
miseries of exile." 

" Et te sonantem plenius aureo, 
Alcaee, plectro, dura navis, 
Dura fugae mala, dura belli." — Hor. Od. II. 13. 

Of the few fragments that have reached us, let it not be 
thought too bold an assertion, that there is enough amply 
to justify the high praises which antiquity did not hesitate 
to bestow on him. Among these scattered reliques, except 
a few words quoted, or rather referred to, by Aristides the 
Rhetorician, on which Sir William Jones has founded his 
noble paraphrase, "What constitutes a state?" &c, and 
which are omitted by Bishop Blomfield in the collection of 
his remains published in the first volume of the " Museum 
Criticum," none, so far as we know, have ever yet been 
presented in an English version. In exhibiting the follow- 
ing attempt, which includes all that appear to come within 
reach of poetical translation, we have only again to appeal 
to the extreme difficulty of the task as our apology for the 
imperfection of its execution. 



ALCJEVS. 

I. (1.) CONVIVIAL. 

Jove descends in sleet and snow ; 

Howls the vex'd and angry deep ; 
Every stream forgets to flow, 

Bound in winter's icy sleep. 
Ocean wave and forest hoar 
To the blast responsive roar. 

Drive the tempest from your door, 

Blaze on blaze your hearthstone piling, 

And unmeasur'd goblets pour 

Brimful high with nectar smiling. 

Then beneath your Poet's head 

Be a downy pillow spread. 



29 



II. (2.) THE STORM. 

Now here, now there, the wild waves sweep, 

Whilst we betwixt them o'er the deep, 

In shatter' d tempest-beaten bark, 

With labouring ropes are onward driven, 

The billows dashing o'er our dark 

Upheaved deck — in tatters riven 

Our sails — whose yawning rents between 

The raging sea and sky are seen. 



Loose from their hold our anchors burst 
And then the third, the fatal wave 

Comes rolling onward, like the first, 
And doubles all our toil to save. 



30 alcjEus, 



III. (3.) CONVIVIAL. m. 

To be bow'd by grief is folly : 
Nought is gain'd by melancholy ; 
Better than the pain of thinking 
Is to steep the sense in drinking. 



IV. (4.) SONG OF TRIUMPH. 

Now is our time to drink, and tread 

The joyous dance — since Myrsilus is dead. 



V. (18.) CONVIVIAL. 
Glad your hearts with rosy wine, 

Now the dog- star takes his round ; 
Sultry hours to sleep incline ; 

Gapes with heat the sultry ground. 

Crickets sing on leafy boughs, 
And the thistle is in flower ; 

Melting maids forget the vows 
Made to th' moon in colder hours. 



VI. (20.) CONVIVIAL. 

Why wait we for the torches' lights ? 
Now let us drink — the day invites. 
In mighty flagons hither bring 

The deep red blood of many a vine, 
That we may largely quaff, and sing 

The praises of the god of wine— 



ALC^US. 31 



The son of Jove and Semele, 
Who gave the jocund grape to be 
A sweet oblivion of our woes. 

Fill, fill the goblets — one and two 
Let every brimmer, as it flows, 

In sportive chase the last pursue ! 



VII. (24.) THE SPOILS OF WAR. 

Glitters with brass my mansion wide ; 
The roof is deck'd on every side 

In martial pride, 
With helmets rang'd in order bright 
And plumes of horse-hair nodding white, 

A gallant sight — 

— Fit ornament for warrior's brow — 
And round the walls, in goodly row, 

Refulgent glow 
Stout greaves of brass like burnish' d gold, 
And corslets there, in many a fold 

Of linen roll'd ; 

And shields that in the battle fray 
The routed losers of the day 

Have cast away ; 
Eubcean faulchions too are seen, 
With rich embroider'd belts between 

Of dazzling sheen : 

And gaudy surcoats pil'd around, 
The spoils of chiefs in war renown'd, 
May there be found. 



32 ALC^US. 

These, and all else that here you see, 
Are fruits of glorious victory 
Achiev'd by me. 



VIII. (26, 28.) POVERTY. m 

The worst of ills and hardest to endure, 

Past hope, past cure, 
Is Penury, who, with her sister mate 
Disorder, soon brings down the loftiest state, 

And makes it desolate. 
This truth the sage of Sparta told, 

Aristodemus old, — 
" Wealth makes the man." On him that 's poor 
Proud worth looks down, and honour shuts the door. 



IX. THE CONSTITUTION OF A STATE. 

SIR WILLIAM JONES. 

What constitutes a state ? 
Not high-rais'd battlement or labour'd mound, 

Thick wall or moated gate. 
Not cities fair with spires and turrets crown'd. 

No : men — high-minded men — 
With powers as far above dull brutes endued 

In forest, brake, or den, 
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude. 

Men, who their duties know, 
Know too their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain, 

Prevent the long-aim'd blow, 
And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain. 



STESICHORUS. 33 



STESICHORUS.f 

Stesichortjs, a native of Himera in Sicily, was born in the 
thirty-seventh Olymp. (B. C. 632), and died in the fifty- 
sixth (B. C. 353), at the age of eighty. He lived in the 
time, and probably under the dominion, of Phalaris, tyrant 
of Agrigentum, and was contemporary with Sappho, Al- 
caeus, and Pittacus. Of his real history few particulars have 
descended to us. The fabulous narrative by which he is 
visited with loss of sight as a punishment for his " Vitupe- 
ration " of Helen, and which affirms its miraculous restora- 
tion on the achievement of a " Palinode " composed at the 
instigation of a dream, appears to derive its origin from a 
figurative expression used by the poet himself, in the form 
of a poetical recantation. It is indeed doubtful whether 
the two supposed poems entitled, one the "Vituperation," 
the other the "Encomium," of Helen, were themselves 
any more than detached portions of a larger work, also 
attributed to him, under the denomination of 'IXiov nepots, 
" The Destruction of Troy," of which one or two very small 
fragments are all that remains to us. 

His other principal works, of which the titles, with a few 
scattered extracts, are preserved, consist in the "Geryone'is," 
— a poem, as its name would import, in celebration of the 
Giant Geryon, — the " Orestea," the " Rhadine," and the 
" Scylla," each indicating by its title the subject to which 

t Blomfield, Mus. Crit., vol. ii. p. 256. 
c 5 



34 STESICHORUS. 

it related. Besides these, he is cited as having composed 
Bucolics, and Gymnastic, or rather Aethlic, pieces. 

His character as a poet, and especially as contrasted 
with the fervid Alcseus, the playful Anacreon, and the em- 
passioned Sappho, may be collected from Horace. 

" Non, si priores Mseonius tenet 
Sedes Homerus, Pindaricae latent, 

Ceaeque, et Alcaei minaces, 

Stesichorique graves Camcense : 
Nee si quid olim lusit Anacreon 
Delevit iEtas : spirat adhuc amor, 

Vivuntque commissi calores 

iEoliae fidibus puellse." 

And to this testimony may be added that of Cicero (In 
Verr. II. 35.) when, speaking of the poet's native city, 
where his statue was at that time to be seen, he says, 
" Erat etiam Stesichori poetse statua senilis, incurva, cum 
libro, summo, ut putant, artificis facta, qui fuit Himerse, 
sed et est, et fuit tota in Grsecia summo propter ingenium 
honore et nomine." 

Who can read these praises of ancient writers, and not 
join in the poetical aspiration breathed by a modern, deeply 
imbued with the same feelings of reverence ? <c Utinam 
profecto Stesichorum non invidisset nobis vetustas, cujus 
gravitatem et magnificentiam omnes predicant ; quern prse 
ceteris laudat Dionysius, quod et argumenta sumeret grandia 
imprimis et splendide, et in iis tractandis mores et perso- 
narum dignitatem egregie servaret. Alcaeo autem praecipue 
ra t(ov 7ro\iTLK(i)v 7T p ay jjiar to v rjOos idem tribuit : at cui viro ? 
quam strenuo civi ? quam animoso reipublicse et legum pro- 
pugnatori ? quam acri tyrannorum insectatori et vindici ? 



STESICHORUS. 35 

qui gladium suum pariter et lyram Patriae et Libertati con- 
secraverat; cujus 'minaces Camcenae' per ora populi volitan- 
tes et praesenti et perpetuo erant, non modo suae civitati, 
sed et universae Graeciae, contra malorum civium conatus 
praesidio." (Lowthde Sacra Poes. Hebr. Prael. I. p. 12). j 



I. (III. 1.) THE VOYAGE OF THE SUN. h. m. 

(From the Geryoneis.) 
But now the Sun, great Hyperion's child, 

Embark'd again upon his golden chalice, 
And westward steer' d, where far o'er ocean wild 

Sleeps the dim night in solitary valleys ; 
Where dwell his mother, and his consort mild, 

And infant sons, in his sequester' d palace ; 
Whilst onward through the laurel- shaded grove 
Mov'd with firm step the hero son of Jove. 



II. (III. 3.) HERCULES AND THE CENTAUR, m. 

(From the Same.) 
He said : then, raising to his mouth the cup 

That held three gallons, mantling to the brim, 
At one unflinching draught he toss'd it up : 

Pholus the wine had mix'd, and pledg'd to him. 



III. (IV. 1.) THE SACRIFICE OF TYNDARUS. x. 

(From the Helena.) 
When as the royal Tyndarus did pay 
To all the Gods above meet sacrifice, 



36 STESICHORUS. 

Benignant Venus he forgot, alone, 
By prayer or incense humbly to atone ; 
And hence th' offended power with hateful eyes 
Beheld his sister- offspring ; wherefore they 
Were doom'd thenceforth to lead dishonest lives- 
Unnatural mothers, and adult'rous wives. 



IV. (IV. 2.) THE PROCESSION. 

(From the Same.) 
Befoke the regal chariot, as it pass'd, 

Were bright Cydonian apples scatter' d round, 
And myrtle leaves in showers of fragrance cast ; 

And many a wreath was there, with roses bound, 
And many a coronal, wherein were set, 
Like gems, rich rows of purple violet. 



V. (2, 3.) FROM SCATTERED FRAGMENTS, ai. 

Vain it is for those to weep 
Who repose in Death's last sleep. 
With man's life ends all the story 
Of his wisdom, wit, and glory. 



IBYCUS. 37 



IBYCUS.f 

This poet, a native of Rhegium in Italy, nourished in the 
time of Croesus, from the fifty-fourth to the sixtieth Olym- 
piad (B. C. 564-539). He left his native country and came 
to Samos during the government of Polycrates, but upon 
what occasion is doubtful ; nor can it be ascertained when 
or where he met his unhappy end — an event well known, 
and often cited as an instance of the watchfulness of the 
Divine vengeance — being murdered by pirates on a desert 
beach, and the discovery subsequently made by the inad- 
vertent exclamation of one of the murderers, who, on a 
flock of cranes flying over the market-place at Corinth, 
observed aloud to another also present, "Behold the 
avengers of Ibycus ! " A flock of the same birds had been 
seen by them at the time when they committed the mur- 
der. Of his poetry a very few fragments remain, of which 
the two following, preserved by Athenseus, are the prin- 
cipal. The second appears to justify the remarkable ex- 
pression with which it is introduced by the critic, as appli- 
cable to the impassioned vehemence of his style, — Kcu 6 
'Frjylvos de"L(3vK0s /3oct icai Ketcpayev^Hpi, &c. 



I. EURYALE. 

Sweetest flower, Euryale ! 
Whom the maids with tresses fair, 
Sister Graces, make their care — 



f Athenseus, xiii. 564, 601. 



38 IBYCUS. 

Thee Cythera nourish' d— thee 
Pitho, with the radiant brow ; 
And 'mid bowers where roses blow 
Led thy laughing infancy. 



II. THE RETURN OF SPRING.* p. 353. 

What time soft Zephyrs fan the trees 
In the blest gardens of th' Hesperides, 

Where those bright golden apples glow, 
Fed by the fruitful streams that round them flow, 

And new-born clusters teem with wine 
Beneath the shadowy foliage of the vine ; 

To me the joyous season brings 
But added torture on his sunny wings. 

Then Love, the tyrant of my breast, 
Impetuous ravisher of joy and rest, 

Bursts, furious, from his mother's arms, 
And fills my trembling soul with new alarms ; 

Like Boreas from his Thracian plains, 
Cloth'd in fierce lightnings, in my bosom reigns, 

And rages still, the madd'ning power — 
His parching flames my wither'd heart devour ; 

Wild Phrensy comes my senses o'er, 
Sweet Peace is fled, and Reason rules no more. 



ALCMAN. 39 



ALCMAN.f 

Alcman, whose age and country are both involved in some 
degree of uncertainty, but who is generally reputed to have 
been born at Sardis, and to have been nearly contemporary 
with Archilochus, is at all events to be numbered among the 
fathers of lyric poetry, and is especially characterized by 
Athenaeus, on the authority of Archytas, as — tcSv ejowri/cwj/ 
lockup iiyejiova. The scanty fragments of his works which 
remain to us belong to a somewhat different class of com- 
positions, and might be transplanted with advantage into 
the "Almanac des Gourmands," but are wholly unconver- 
tible into the language of English poetry. The following 
is the only morsel at all analogous to his reputation as 
" Prince of amorous poesy." 



MEGALOSTRATA. 
Again sweet Love, by Cytherea led, 
Hath all my soul possest ; 
Again delicious rapture shed 
In torrents o'er my breast. 
Now Megalostrata the fair, 
Of all the Virgin train 
Most blessed — with her yellow floating hair — 
Hath brought me to the Muses' holy fane, 
To flourish there. 

f Athenaeus, lib. xiii. p. 600. 



40 MELAN1PPIDES. 



MELANIPPIDES.f 

NapKiccrov de ropwv MevaXiTnridov eytcvov vfxvojv. Meleager. i. 7. 

This poet was a native of Melos, and nourished about the 
sixty-fifth Olympiad (B. C. 520). 

The fragment handed down by Athenaeus, of which the 
following lines are given as a free version, is introduced in 
a dissertation among his Deipnosophists on the merits of 
flutes and flute-performers. 

We do not think it necessary to quote the reply made 
by Telestes of Argos, another dithyrambic poet, who lived 
about a century later, but refer the reader, for the particu- 
lars of the dispute, to the entertaining work which has re- 
corded it. 



THE FLUTE REJECTED BY MINERVA. 

But Athene flung away 

From her pure hand those noxious instruments 
It late had touch' d, and thus did say — 

" Hence, ye banes of beauty, hence ; 
What ? shall I my charms disgrace 
By making such an odious face ?" 

f Atlienseus, lib. xiv. p. 616. 



ANACREON. 41 



ANACREON.f 

Ev d' ap' ' hvaKpeiovTCL' to fiev y\vKv Keivo fiiXicrfia 
Ne/crapos, ei's 5' eXeyovs eixnropov dvQefiiov. 

Meleager. i. 35. 

Under the very indistinct emblem conveyed by a word 
which is applicable generally to any species of flower, but 
is sometimes restricted in its signification to the Rose in 
particular, we are here referred not to the Odes, but to the 
Elegies, of Anacreon. Of the well-known Collection pre- 
served under the former title, we shall but briefly touch 
upon the question of the authenticity. That a considerable 
portion of his lyric poetry existed in the time of Horace 
can hardly be doubted ; but that the odes which we now 
possess, and are fond of ascribing to him, are the same as 
those with which the Roman poet was so familiar, cannot be 
asserted without much hesitation, when it is observed that, of 
all Horace's compositions, one only (that beginning "Vitas 
hinnuleo me similis Chloe,") appears to betray the principle 
of close imitation which he generally discovers in those parts 
of his works which have reference to the other lyric poets. 
The argument from internal evidence must, we fear, be pro- 
nounced even stronger than the negative inference — to the ex- 
tent, at least, of warranting the supposition that many entire 

f Anacreon Baxteri a Fischer. 8vo, Lips. 1793, 



42 ANACREON. 

odes, and considerable portions also of the remainder, are 
the fabrication of a later age ; although to what author, or to 
what period, the forgery can be assigned, remains another 
question, and one of far greater difficulty. If, however, we 
are compelled to place them among the Apocrypha of ancient 
poetry, we are not therefore to be blind to their rare excel- 
lence, or refuse them the rank which they have obtained 
as perhaps the most extensively popular in the whole range 
of classical poetry, — a merit sufficiently attested by the fre- 
quency of translation into every modern language, our own 
especially, and by the more remarkable fact that, frequent 
as have been the attempts, and various the degrees of suc- 
cess attending them, all have failed alike to exhibit any 
resemblance to the peculiar, and perhaps incommunicable, 
charm of the originals. The Paraphrases of Cowley, indeed, 
are possessed of many transcendent beauties ; but they are 
essentially his own ; while the versions of Moore, which 
bear a closer affinity to the Greek in spirit, are overloaded 
with faults and redundancies peculiarly those of the living 
poet, and such as even he, in his maturer judgement, 
would have in great measure avoided. A single imitation 
by Prior (quaintly entitled, " Cupid turned Stroller,") pos- 
sesses all the graces of his own lively style. 

Of the elegies said to have been composed by Anacreon 
nothing whatever has reached us, unless that which has 
been printed as the sixteenth in number of his epigrams, 
and of which a translation is here given, be considered as 
forming a portion of one of them. The remaining fifteen 
epigrams are short, and of the baldest simplicity. Two 
only are here presented by way of specimens. 



ANACREON. 43 

ODE I. TO HIS LYRE. cowley. 

I 'll sing of heroes and of kings ; 
In mighty numbers, mighty things : 
Begin, my Muse ! — but lo ! the strings 
To my great song rebellious prove — 
The strings will sound of nought but love. 
I broke them all, and put on new : 
— 'T is this, or nothing, now will do. 
" These, sure, (I said,) will me obey ; 
These, sure, heroic notes will play." 
Straight I began with thund'ring Jove, 
And all th' immortal powers, but Love. 
Love smil'd, and from my enfeebled lyre 
Came gentle ayres — such as inspire 
Melting Love — soft Desire. 

Farewell, then, heroes ! farewell kings ! 
And mighty numbers, mighty things ! 
Love tunes my heart just to my strings. 



ODE IV. THE EPICURE. cowley. 

Underneath this myrtle shade, 
On flowery beds supinely laid, 
With odorous oyls my head o'erflowing, 
And around it roses growing, 
What should I do, but drink away 
The heat and troubles of the day ? 
In this more than kingly state 
Love himself shall on me wait. 



44 ANACREON. 

Fill to me, Love, nay, fill it up ! 
And mingled, cast into the cup 
Wit, and mirth, and noble fires, 
Vigorous health, and gay desires. 
The wheel of life no less will stay 
On a smooth than rugged way : 
Since it equally doth flee, 
Let the motion pleasant be ! 
Why do we precious oyntments show'r, 
Nobler wines why do we pour, 
Beauteous flowers why do we shed, 
Upon the mon'ments of the dead ? 
Nothing they but dust can show, 
Or bones that hasten to be so. 
Crown me with roses whilst I live — 
Now your wines and oyntments give : 
After death I nothing crave. 
Let me alive my pleasures have ! 
All are stoicks in the grave. 



ODE V. THE ROSE. moore. 

Buds of roses, virgin flowers, 
CulTd from Cupid's balmy bowers, 
In the bowl of Bacchus steep, 
Till with crimson drops they weep ! 
Twine the rose, the garland twine, 
Every leaf distilling wine ; 
Drink and smile, and learn to think 
We were born to smile and drink, 



ANACREON. 45 

Rose ! thou art the sweetest flower 
That ever drank the amber shower. 
Rose ! thou art the fondest child 
Of dimpled Spring, the wood-nymph wild ! 
Ev'n the Gods, who walk the sky, 
Are amorous of thy scented sigh. 
Cupid, too, in Paphian shades, 
His hair with rosy fillets braids, 
When, with the blushing naked Graces, 
The wanton winding dance he traces. 

Then bring me showers of roses, bring ! 
And shed them round me while I sing. 



ODE XI. ON HIMSELF. cowley. 

Oft am I by the women told, 
Poor Anacreon, thou grow'st old. 
Look, how thy hairs are falling all : 
Poor Anacreon, how they fall ! " 
Whether I grow old or no, 
By th' effects I do not know. 
This I know, without being told, 
'T is time to live if I grow old. 
'T is time short pleasures now to take, 
Of little life the best to make, 
And manage wisely the last stake. 



46 ANACREON. 

ODE XV. HAPPY LIFE. 

Tell me not of golden springs, 
And the wealth that Asia brings, 
Cars and crowns and precious things, 
To her tyrannizing kings : 

I will dwell in idle bowers, 
Crown'd my head with pleasant flowers 
Loose the wine in purple showers ! 
Wine and beauty shall be ours ! 

For today I take or give ; 

For today I drink and live ; 

For today I beg or borrow : — 

Who knows about the silent morrow ? 



THE SAME. cowley. 

Fill the bowl with rosy wine ; 
Around our temples roses twine ; 
And let us cheerfully awhile 
Like the wine and roses smile. 
Crown'd with roses, we contemn 
Gyges' wealthy diadem. 
Today is ours — what do we fear ? 
Today is ours — we have it here. 
Let 's treat it kindly, that it may 
Wish at least with us to stay. 
Let 's banish business, banish sorrow ; 
To the Gods belongs tomorrow. 



ANACREON. 4/ 



ODE XVII. THE CUP.* p. 75. 

I do not want the rolling car, 

Helm or shield with silver bound- 

What have I to do with war ? 
But a goblet deep and round. 

Carve not on its polish'd side 
Star, nor planet's varied form, 

Such as rule the angry tide, 
Or direct the rising storm. 

Let a vine the cup surround, 
Clasping with its tendrils fine ; 

And amid the golden ground, 
Raise a vat of new-made wine. 

Then the festal chorus leading, 
Carve the Theban god above ; 

And the mellow vintage treading, 
Cupid, with the maid I love. 



ODE XX. TO HIS MISTRESS. 

Sad Niobe, on Phrygian shore, 
Was turn'd to marble by despair ; 

And hapless Progne learn' d to soar 
On swallow's wing thro' liquid air. 

But I would be a mirror, 

So thou may'st pleas'd behold me, 
Or robe, with close embraces 

About thy limbs to fold me, 



48 ANACREON. 

A crystal fount, to lave thee, 
Sweet oyls, thy hair to deck, 

A zone, to press thy bosom, 
Or pearl, to gem thy neck. 

Or, might I worship at thy feet, 
A sandal for thy feet I 'd be. 

Ev'n to be trodden on were sweet, 
If to be trodden on by thee. 



ODE XIX. THAT WE OUGHT TO DRINK.* p. 75. m. 

The black earth drinks the falling rain ; 
Trees drink the moisten'd earth again ; 
Ocean drinks the streams that run, 
Only to yield them to the sun ; 
And the sun himself as soon 
Is swallow'd by the thirsty moon. 
All Nature drinks : if I would sip, 
Why dash the goblet from my lip ? 



THE SAME. cowley. 

The thirsty earth soaks up the rain, 
And drinks, and gapes for drink again. 
The plants suck in the earth, and are 
With constant drinking fresh and fair. 
The sea itself — which, one would think, 
Should have but little need of drink, 



ANACREON. 49 

Drinks ten thousand rivers up, 
So fill'd, that they o'erflow the cup. 
The busie sun — and one would guess 
By 's drunken fiery face no less — 
Drinks up the sea ; and, when h'as done, 
The moon and stars drink up the sun. 
They drink and dance by their own light ; 
They drink and revel all the night. 
Nothing in Nature's sober found, 
But an eternal health goes round. 
Fill up the bowl, then ! fill it high ! 
Fill all the glasses there ! for why 
Should every creature drink, but I ? 
— Why, man of morals ? — tell me, why ? 



ODE XXXIII. TO THE SWALLOW. cowley. 

Foolish prater, what dost thou 
So early at my window do, 
With thy tuneless serenade ? 
Well 't had been had Tereus made 
Thee as dumb as Philomel : 
There his knife had done but well. 
In thine undiscover'd nest 
Thou dost all the winter rest, 
And dreamest o'er thy summer joys, 
Free from the stormy season's noise, 
Free from th' ill thou 'st done to me. 
— Who disturbs or seeks out thee ? 
Hadst thou all the charming notes 
Of the wood's poetick throats, 

D 



50 ANACREON. 

All thy arts could ne'er repay 

What thou 'st ta'en from me away — 

Cruel bird, thou 'st ta'en away 

A dream out of mine arms today, 

A dream, that ne'er can equal'd be 

By all that waking eyes can see. 

Thou, this damage to repair, 

Nothing half so sweet or fair, 

Nothing half so good canst bring. 

Though men say, thou bring' st the Spring. 



ODE XXXIV. TO HIS MISTRESS.* p. 32. m. 

Fly not, because the hand of Time 

My silver'd locks discover : 
Nor, glorying in thy golden prime, 

Disdain a grey-beard lover. 

Think' st thou my winter ill agrees 
With charms thy spring discloses ? 

Remember how those garlands please 
Where lilies mix with roses ! 



ODE XLIII. TO THE GRASSHOPPER, cowley. 

Happy insect ! what can be 
In happiness compar'd to thee ? 
Fed with nourishment divine, 
The dewy morning's gentle wine ! 
Nature waits upon thee still, 
And thy verdant cup does fill ; 



ANACREON. 51 

'T is fill'd wherever thou dost tread ; 

Nature's self 's thy Ganymed. 

Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing, 

Happier than the happiest king. 

All the fields which thou dost see, 

All the plants belong to thee, 

All that summer hours produce, 

Fertile made with early juice. 

Man for thee does sow and plow ; 

Farmer he, and landlord thou. 

Thou dost innocently joy ; 

Nor does thy luxury destroy. 

The shepherd gladly heareth thee, 

More harmonious than he. 

Thee country hinds with gladness hear, 

Prophet of the ripen' d year ! 

Thee Phoebus loves, and doth inspire ; 

Phoebus is himself thy sire. 

To thee, of all things upon earth, 

Life is no longer than thy mirth. 

Happy insect ! happy, thou 

Dost neither age nor winter know. 

But when thou 'st drunk, and danc'd, and sung 

Thy fill, the flowery leaves among, 

— Voluptuous, and wise withal — 

Epicurean animal ! — 

Sated with thy summer feast, 

Thou retir'st to endless rest. 



d 2 



52 ANACREON. 



EPIGRAMS. 



I. (12.B.80.) ON THE TOMB OF TIMOCRITUS. m. 

Timocritus adorns this humble grave. 

Mars spares the coward, and destroys the brave. 



II. (14. B. 82.) ON THE TOMB OF CLEANOR. 

Thee too, Cleanor, strong Desire laid low — 
Desire, that wretched exiles only know, 
Of thy lov'd native land. The tyrant sway 
Of winter had no force to make thee stay : 
Thy fatal hour was come ; and, tempest-sped, 
The wild waves clos'd around thy cherish'd head. 



III. (16. B. 84.) CONVIVIAL.* p. 76. 

Ne'er shall that man a comrade be, 

Or drink a generous glass with me, 

Who o'er his bumpers brags of scars, 

Of noisy broils and mournful wars : 

But welcome thou congenial soul, 

And share my purse and drain my bowl, 

Who canst in social knot combine 

The Muse, Good-humour, Love, and Wine. 



CLEOBULUS. 53 



CLEOBULUS t, 

The son of Evagoras, a native of Lindus ; and accounted 
one of the seven sages of Greece. He was a great com- 
poser of riddles, which, in those days, may possibly have 
been sufficient to obtain for him the reputation of wisdom 
which he enjoyed. He had a daughter, named Cleobuline, 
recorded by Diogenes Laertius as herself a poetess, who 
wrote senigmas in hexameter verses. 

Cleobulus is not among the poets included in Meleager's 
Garland ; and his name would hardly have found a place 
in this Collection, but by way of introduction to the parody 
of Simonides of his bombastic inscription on the tomb of 
Midas. 

SPOKEN BY A MONUMENTAL FIGURE SCULP- 
TURED ON THE TOMB OF MIDAS. m. 

Sculptur'd in brass, a virgin bright, 

On Midas' tomb I stand. 
While water cools — while now'rs delight — 

While rivers part the land — 
While Ocean girds the earth around — 

While, with returning day, 
Phoebus returns, and Night is crown'd 

By Luna's glimmering ray — 
So long as these shall last, will I, 

A monument of woe, 
Declare to every passer by, 

That Midas sleeps below. 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 52. Brunck, i. 76. 



54 SIMONIDES. 



SIMONIDESf. 

vkov olvavQes icXrifxa Sijuom'^ew. Meleager i. 8. 

From the numerous epigrams and smaller pieces, and from 
the still more numerous fragments of longer poems, which 
have been preserved under this celebrated name, it would 
be difficult to discover any reason for assigning to him an 
emblem derived from the vine, unless it be the graceful 
tenderness of its newborn leaves and tendrils; in which 
respect, enough of evidence is still left to us that the device 
is not without its appropriate signification. It is with re- 
ference to these beautiful but melancholy remnants, and 
to the yet more scanty memorials of the preceding poets 
which it has been our faint attempt to exhibit in a dress of 
corresponding grace and simplicity, that a recent critic, 
himself previously distinguished by a very successful en- 
deavour to familiarize the splendid beauties of Homer to 
the mind of the classical student, has expressed himself in 
the following eloquent passage. 

' ' It is with respect to the writings of this age that the 
lovers of the antique Muse of Greece have the heaviest, the 
most irretrievable losses to deplore ; time and barbarism have 
here swept away more than their usual share of the great and 
the beautiful ; and when we take up a modern collection, 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 57. Brunck, i. p. 120. 



SIMONIDES. 55 

and see what is now left us even of the mightiest of this 
throng of great poets, — their mutilated vigour, their dis- 
jointed melody, their objectless passion, — we feel our hearts 
swell with that melancholy and vexation of spirit, which 
we know not that the sight of the shattered temples of 
Athens itself should more worthily call up, than this mourn- 
ful exhibition of the torsos of Archilochus, of Sappho, and 
of Simonides f." 

We shall not here enter into the history of the causes 
to which is assigned the irreparable destruction thus feel- 
ingly lamented ; nor do we think it necessary to say 
more, by way of introduction to the mutilated fragments 
and smaller pieces, or epigrams, which have the name of 
Simonides affixed to them, than that, from the concurrent 
voice of antiquity, supported by internal evidence, there 
were at least three distinct poets known by the same ap- 
pellation, — that to the eldest of these, who was a native of 
the island Amorgos, and probably contemporary with Ar- 
chilochus, is to be ascribed the long set of Iambic verses on 
the characters of women, with which we have at present 
no more to do than to caution the reader against attributing 
them to the second and greatest of the name, — Simonides 
of Ceos, the son of Leoprepes ; the date of whose birth has 
been fixed at 556, and of his death at 467, B. C. ; and whose 
memory is associated with the great events which formed the 
subject of the principal part of his remaining works. A third 
Simonides, a native also of Ceos, and nephew to the second, 



t Quart. Rev. No. XCV. p. 69,— " Greek Elegy." We cannot be 
wrong in ascribing the authorship of this article to Henry Nelson Cole- 
ridge. 



56 SIMONIDES. 

seems to possess the best title to such at least of the epi- 
grams, as, from the date of the events recorded in them, 
cannot be ascribed to the uncle without an anachronism. Of 
one hundred and seven pieces (including fragments,) which 
are given by Jacobs as all that exists of these two last- 
mentioned poets, it has been our wish to present in the 
dress of English verse all that appear capable of such pre- 
sentation; those omitted being either so merely prosaic in sen- 
timent, or relating to matters so purely uninteresting (such 
as the achievement of athletic prizes, &c), from their same- 
ness of repetition, as to be well spared in translation. " To 
Simonides," observes the critic already quoted, "we attri- 
bute the invention, or, more properly, the establishment of 
the Elegy in its last received sense of a funereal poem. We 
have still a good many of his epigrams, but a very few lines 
indeed of what can properly be called his elegies. He was, 
past dispute, the favourite, all Greece over, for an inscrip- 
tion ; and such as are preserved, chiefly on those who fell 
in battle against the Persians, most fully justify his popu- 
larity in this line. They are all characterized by force, 
downrightness, and terse simplicity — a0e\e/a,— in the high- 
est degree of any to be found in the Anthology." 

After citing the above passages, and referring also to the 
well-known character assigned to Simonides, with such ex- 
quisite taste, by Catullus, — 

" Moestius lacrymis Simonideis, — " 

it may be thought that he is here misplaced, and that his 
compositions ought rather to have been ranked, in the pre- 
sent Collection, among those of Mimnermus and Solon, 
where some of those which are more' decidedly elegiac will 
be found. But not to mention that many of the fragments 



SIMONIDES. 57 

are decidedly lyric, and have been constantly included 
(from the time of Henry Stephens downwards,) among 
those of the lyric poets, the occurrence of his name in the 
Garland of Meleager is sufficient to give him a place among 
the bards of the Anthologia, at least with regard to so much 
as Jacobs has thought fit to retain. We now conclude, with 
Wordsworth — 

" O ye who patiently explore 
The wreck of Herculanean lore, 

What rapture, could ye seize 
Some Theban fragment, or unroll 
One precious, tender-hearted scroll 
Of pure Simonides!" 



LYRIC FRAGMENTS. 



I. (1.) CM. 

.... For truly they who were of old 
From gods descended, as the poets told, — 
And half of heaven, and half of earth, — 
Proceeding onwards from their birth 
Arriv'd not at their honour' d years 
Unscath'd by wounds, untried by toils and tears .... 



II. (2.) 
Mortal, canst thou dare to say 
What may chance another day ? 
d 5 



58 SIMONIDES. 

Or, thy fellow-mortal seeing, 
Circumscribe his term of being ? 
Swifter than the insect's wings 
la the change of mortal things. 



III. (3.) M. 

Whatever of virtue or of power, 

Or good, or great, we vainly call, 
Each moment eager to devour, 

One vast Charybdis yawns for all. 



IV. (4, 5.) 

Long, long and dreary is the night 
That 'waits us in the silent grave : 

Few, and of rapid flight, 

The years from Death we save. 
Short — ah, how short ! — that fleeting space ; 

And when man's little race 
Is run, and Death's grim portals o'er him close, 

How lasting his repose ! 



V. (7.) DANAE.* p. 360. 

When the wind, resounding high, 
Bluster' d from the northern skyj 
When the waves, in stronger tide, 
Dash'd against the vessel's side, 



SIMONtDES. 59 

Her care-worn cheek with tears bedew'd, 
Her sleeping infant Danae view'd; 
And trembling still with new alarms, 
Around him cast a mother's arms. 
My child ! what woes does Danae weep ! 
But thy young limbs are wrapt in sleep. 
In that poor nook all sad and dark, 
While lightnings play around our bark, 
Thy quiet bosom only knows 
The heavy sigh of deep repose. 

" The howling wind, the raging sea, 
No terror can excite in thee ; 
The angry surges wake no care 
That burst above thy long deep hair, 
But couldst thou feel what I deplore, 
Then would I bid thee sleep the more ! 
Sleep on, sweet boy ; still be the deep ! 
Oh could I lull my woes to sleep ! 
Jove, let thy mighty hand o'erthrow 
The baffled malice of my foe ; 
And may this child, in future years, 
Avenge his mother's wrongs and tears ! " 



VI. (9\) ON ORPHEUS. m. 

Innumerable birds around 

His temples fly in ceaseless motion, 
And fishes from the deep blue ocean 

Leap up, enraptur'd with the dulcet sound. 



60 SIMONIDES. 

VII. (9 b .) ON MELEAGER. 

The victory of the spear he bore 

From all th' assembled youth around, 
Who hurl'd the ponderous weapon o'er 
Anauros to the further shore 

From fair Iolcos' vine- clad ground. 
Thus sang Mseonides ; and thus, 
To listening crowds, Stesichorus. 



VIII. (10.) REPLY TO CLEOBULUS "ON THE 
TOMB OF MIDAS." m. 

(See before, p. 53.) 

Who so bold 

To uphold 
What the Lindian sage hath told ? 

Who would dare 

To compare 
Works of men, that fleeting are, 
With the sweet perennial flow 
Of swift rivers, or the glow 
Of the eternal sun, or light 
Of the golden queen of night ? 

Spring renews 

The flow'ret's hues, 
With her sweet refreshing dews : 

Ocean wide 

Bids his tide 
With returning current glide. 



SIMONIDES. 61 



The sculp tur'd tomb is but a toy 
Man may create, and man destroy. 
Eternity in stone or brass ? 
— Go, go ! who said it, was — an as 



IX. (11.) 

The first of mortal joys is health : 
Next beauty ; and the third is wealth ; 
The fourth, all youth's delights to prove 
With those we love. 



X. (12.) 

.... Who would add an hour 
To the narrow span 

That concludes the life of man ? 

Who would envy kings their power, 
Or gods their endless day, 
If pleasure were away ? . . . . -' 



XI. (13.) 

Human strength is unavailing ; 
Boastful tyranny unfailing ; 
All in life is care and labour ; 
And our unrelenting neighbour, 
Death, for ever hovering round ; 
Whose inevitable wound, 
When he comes prepar'd to strike, 
Good and bad will feel alike. 



62 smoNiDES. 

XII. (14.) THE SEAT OF VIRTUE. 

Sages and honour'd bards of old 
Have said that Virtue loves to keep 
Upon a mountain's rocky steep ; 

Where those permitted to behold 
May still her awful figure trace 
Circling about that holy place. 

But 'tis not given to mortal sight 

Ere wholesome sweat have purg'd away 
Thick mists that dim the visual ray, 

To soar to such a glorious height. 
None that are loiterers in the race 
May hope to see that holy place. 



XIII. (15.) ON THOSE WHO FELL AT THER- 
MOPYLAE. R. 

In dark Thermopylae they lie ; 
Oh death of glory, there to die ! 
Their tomb an altar is, their name 
A mighty heritage of fame : 
Their dirge is triumph — cankering rust, 
And Time that turneth all to dust, 
That tomb shall never waste nor hide, — 
The tomb of warriors true and tried. 
The full-voic'd praise of Greece around 
Lies buried in that sacred mound : 
Where Sparta's king, Leonidas, 
In death eternal glory has. 



SIMONIDES. 63 

EPIGRAMS. 



!. (19. B. 25.) ON THE MEN OF TEGEA. 

'Twas by their valour that to heav'n ascended 
No curling smoke from Tegea's ravag'd field ; 

Who chose — so as the town their arms defended 
They to their sons a heritage might yield 

Inscrib'd with freedom's ever-blooming name — - 

Themselves to perish in the ranks of fame. 

II. (20. B. 26.) ON OTHRYADES. 

O native Sparta ! when we met the host 
In equal combat from th' Inachian coast, 
Thy brave three hundred never turn'd aside, 
But where our feet first rested, there we died. 
The words, in blood, that stout Othryades 
Wrought on his herald shield, were only these— 
" Thyrea is Lacedsemon's ! " — If there fled 
One Argive from the slaughter, be it said, 
Of old Adrastus he hath learn' d to fly. 
We count it death to falter, not to die. 



III. (21. B. 27.) ON THE DEATH OF HIPPAR- 
CHUS. M . 

Fair was the light, that brighten'd as it grew, 
Of freedom on Athena's favour'd land, 

When him, the tyrant, bold Harmodius slew, 
Link'd with Aristogeiton, hand in hand. 



64 SIMONIDES. 

IV. (22. B. 28.) ON A STATUE OF PAN, m. 

(erected by miltiades after the battle of marathon.) 

The cloven-footed deity, 

Dread king of sylvan Arcady, 

Th' Athenian's hope — the Persian's fear — 

Miltiades has station' d here. 



V. (24. B. 30.) ON A COLUMN AT THERMO- 
PYL^E. h. 

Stranger ! to Sparta say, her faithful band 
Here He in death, remembering her command. 



VI. (25. B. 31.) ON MEGISTIAS THE SOOTH- 
SAYER. *p. 301. m. 

This tomb records Megistias' honour'd name, 
Who, bravely fighting in the ranks of Fame, 

Fell by the Persians, near Sperchius' tide. 
Both past and future well the prophet knew ; 
And yet, though death lay open to his view, 

He chose to perish by his monarch's side. 



VII. (26. B. 32.) ON THOSE WHO FELL AT 
THERMOPYLAE. * p. 302. b. 

Greatly to die — if this be glory's height — 
For the fair meed we own our fortune kind. 

For Greece and Liberty we plung'd to night. 
And left a never-dying name behind. 



SIMONJDES. 65 

VIII. (27. B. 33.) THE SAME SUBJECT, m. 

These, for their native land, through death's dark shade 
Who freely passed, now deathless glory wear. 

They die not ; but, by Virtue's sovereign aid, 
Are borne from Hades to the upper air. 



IX. (30. B. 36.) THE CORINTHIAN WOMEN TO 

VENUS. m. 

For those who, fighting on their country's side, 
Oppos'd th' imperial Mede's advancing tide, 
We, votaresses, to Cythera pray'd. 
Th* indulgent power vouchsaf'd her timely aid, 
And kept the citadel of Hellas free 
From rude assaults of Persia's archery. 

X. (32. B. 38.) ON THE VICTORY AT SALAMIS. m. 

Democritus was third in place on that auspicious day, 
When Greeks with Persians mingled on the waves in dire 

affray : 
Five hostile barks he captur'd then ; the sixth, that late 

was ta'en 
By foes barbaric, he redeem' d, and gave to Greece again. 



XI. (33. B. 39.) ON THE CORINTHIANS WHO 
FELL AT SALAMIS. c. m. 

We dwelt of yore in Corinth, by the deep : 
In Salamis (Ajacian Isle) we sleep. 
The ships of Tyre we routed on the sea, 
And Persia, — warring, holy Greece ! for thee. 



66 S1MONIDES. 

XII. (35. B.41.) ON ADEIMANTUS. ] 

Here Adeimantus rests — the same was he 

Whose counsels won for Greece the crown of liberty. 



XIII. (40.B.46.) ON CIMON'S NAVAL VICTORY, m. 

Ne'er since that olden time when Asia stood 
First torn from Europe by the ocean flood, 
Since horrid Mars first pour'd on either shore 
The storm of battle, and its wild uproar, 
Hath man by land and sea such glory won 
As for the mighty deed this day was done. 
By land, the Medes in myriads press the ground ; 
By sea, a hundred Tyrian ships are drown' d, 
With all their martial host ; while Asia stands 
Deep groaning by, and wrings her helpless hands. 



XIV. (41.B.47.) ON THOSE WHO FELL AT THE 
EURYMEDON. m. 

These by the streams of fam'd Eurymedon 
Their envied youth's short brilliant race have run : 
In swift- wing' d ships, and on th' embattled field, 
Alike they forc'd the Median bows to yield, 
Breaking their foremost ranks. Now here they lie, 
Their names inscrib'd on rolls of victory. 



SIMONIDES. 67 

XV. (42. B. 48.) ON THE SAME. r. 

Zn life-blood streaming from those stubborn hearts 
The lord of war once bath'd his barbed darts. 
Where are those warriors, patient of the spear ? 
Bust — soulless, lifeless dust — alone lies here. 



XVI. (43. B. 49.) ON A TROPHY 

(SUSPENDED IN THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA.) 

From wound and death they rest — this bow and quiver- 
Beneath Minerva's holy roof for ever : 
Once did their shafts along the battle speed, 
And drink the life-blood of the charging Mede. 



XVII. (44. B. 50.) ON A VOTIVE SPEAR, m. 

Good ashen spear, that erst this arm did wield, 
And hurl, fierce hissing thro' the battle field ! 
Now, peaceful resting in the sacred grove, 
Thou lead'st the pomp of Panomphsean Jove. 



XVIII. (45. B. 51.) ON THE ATHENIANS 

(who fell at the commencement OF THE PELOPONNESIAN 
WAR.) M. 

Hail, great in war ! all hail, by glory cherish'd ! 

Athena's sons, in chivalry renown'd ! 
For your sweet native soil in youth ye perish' d, 

When Hellas leagued in hostile ranks was found. 



68 SIMONIDES. 



XIX. (46. B. 52.) ON THE ATHENIANS WHO 
FELL IN EUBCEA DURING THE PELOPONNE- 
SIAN WAR. m. 

In thy hollow recess, rugged Dirphe, we fell .- 
By wide-rolling Euripus our monument stands ; 

Nor false is the story it seemeth to tell, 

How our sun set in clouds o'er those far distant sands. 



XX. (47. B. 53.) ON ARCHEDICE, DAUGHTER 
OF HIPPIAS. *p. 301. m. 

Daughter of him who rul'd th' Athenian plains, 
This honour' d dust Archedice contains. 
Of tyrants, mother, daughter, sister, wife — 
Her mind was modest, and unstain'd her life. 



XXI. (48. B. 54.) ON ANACREON. 

Sweet queen of autumn, mother of the wine, 
Trail thy green tresses, sorrow- soothing Vine, 
Thy waving tendrils, round the pillar' d stone 
Above the grave where sleeps Anacreon ! 
That he, the bard that led the tipsy choir 
The livelong night, and struck the joyous lyre, 
May yet, tho' dead, around his brows entwine 
A wreath of grapes, a garland from the vine. 
Breathe o'er his tomb thy sweet and dewy rain : 
Who rests below once wak'd a sweeter strain. 



SIMONIDES. 69 

XXII. (49. B. 55.) ON THE SAME. *. 

Behold where Teos shrouds her minstrel son, 

The deathless bard, the lost Anacreon ! 

Whose raptur'd numbers, wing'd with soft desire, 

Did all the Graces, all the Loves inspire. 

For this alone he grieves within the grave ; 

Not that the sun is dark on Lethe's wave, 

But that Megiste's eyes he may not see, 

Nor, Thressa, still look wistfully on thee. 

Still he remembers music's honey'd breath ; 

Still wakes the lyre beneath the house of death. 



XXIII. (53. B. 59.) ON THE TOMB OF A MUR- 
DERED MAN. B . 

O holy Jove ! — my murderers, may they die 
A death like mine — my buriers live in joy ! 



XXIV. (54. B. 60.) ON HIS PRESERVATION FROM 
DEATH BY AN APPARITION. b. 

Behold the Bard's preserver ! — from the grave 
The spectre came, the living man to save. 



XXV. (55. B. 61.) ON TIMOCREON OF RHODES, m. 

Afteb much eating, drinking, lying, slandering, 
Timocreon of Rhodes here rests from wandering. 



70 SIMONIDES. 

XXVI. (56. B. 62.) ON A BRIDGE OVER THE 
CEPHISUS. r. 

Still wend your way, ye mystic votaries, 
To Ceres' shrine, nor dread the wintry tide : 
For you the Lindian stranger Xenocles 
Hath built this causeway o'er Cephisus wide. 



XXVII. (57. B. 63.) AN OFFERING TO VENUS. 
* p. 426. m. 

Ccelia and Lyce, erst by lovers known, 
To Venus vow the picture and the zone. 
Merchant and factor ! let your purse proclaim 
Both whence the zone, and whence the picture came. 



XXVIII. (58. B. 64.) A WARNING TO SAILORS, m. 

Three roving vessels of the Cyprian trade 
Here, on these noted shoals, have shipwreck made 
Of three brave mariners, and naked sped 
From port to port, to beg their daily bread. 
Sailors, be warn'd ! — How bright soe'er she be, 
Venus can cheat you, like her mother sea. 



XXIX. (59. B. 65.) ON A DOG. 
Dead though thou art, thy whitening relics here 
Still, Lycas, still the w oodland stag shall fear ; 
Cithseron saw thee in thy fiery flight, 
And Pelion's waste, and Ossa's scarped height. 



SIMONIDES. 71 

XXX. (60. B. 66.) ON A FEMALE VICTOR AT 
THE OLYMPIC GAMES. n. 

My sire, my brethren Sparta's princes are ; 
Mine were the coursers, mine the conqu'ring car : 
'Twas I, Cynisca, I that rais'd this stone, 
I won the wreath, 'mid Grecian maids alone. 



XXXI. (84. B. 90.) ON A STATUE OF CUPID BY 
PRAXITELES. * p. 369. h. 

Well has the sculptor felt what he express'd ; 
He drew the living model from his breast. 
Will not his Phryne the rare gift approve, 
Me for myself exchanging, love for love ? 
Lost are my fabled bow and magic dart ; 
But, only gaz'd upon, I win the heart. 



XXXII. (86. B. 92.) INSCRIBED ON A CENO- 
TAPH. R . 

O cloud -c apt Geraneia, rock unblest ! 

Would thou hadst reared far hence thy haughty crest, 

By Tanais wild, or wastes where Ister flows ; 

Nor looked on Sciron from thy silent snows ! 

A cold, cold corpse he lies beneath the wave, 

This tomb speaks, tenantless, his ocean grave. 



72 SIMONIDES. 

XXXIII. (89. B. 95.) EPITAPH. 
A land not thine hath shed its dust o'er thee, 
A fated wanderer o'er the Pontic sea : 
No joys for thee of sweet regretted home ; 
To sea-girt Chios thou didst never come. 



XXXIV. (90. B. 96.) EPITAPH. 

Shame, glorious shame beside Theaerus' wave 
Brought Cleodamus to his honour'd grave 
'Mid Thracian lances : for his father's name 
The warrior son hath gained immortal fame. 



XXXV. (91. B. 97.) EPITAPH. 

These, as the spoils of Tyrrhene war, 

to Phoebus' hallowed dome 
They bore away, one sea receiv'd, 

one vessel and one tomb. 



XXXVI. (95, 94. B. 101, 100.) FRAGMENTS OF AN 
ELEGY. anon. (Quart. Rev. ubi supra.) 

Grievous disease ! why enviest thou to men 

In lovely youth to stay ? 
Amercing young Timarchus of his life 

Before his nuptial day ? 



SIMONIJDES. /3 



He, in his father's arms embrac'd, 
Thus gasp'd with failing breath, 

Timenorides, forget me not, 
Thy virtuous child, in death ! " 



XXXVII. (98. B. 104.) FRAGMENT OF AN ELEGY. 
* p. 185. m. 

All human things are subject to decay ; 
And well the man of Chios tun'd his lay, — 
" Like leaves on trees the race of man is found" — 
Yet few receive the melancholy sound, 
Or in their breasts imprint this solemn truth ; 
For Hope is near to all, but most £p youth. 
Hope's vernal season leads the laughing hours, 
And strews o'er every path the fairest flowers : 
To cloud the scene no distant mists appear, 
Age moves no thought, and death awakes no fear. 
Ah, how unmindful is the giddy crowd 
Of the small span to youth and life allow'd ! 
Ye who reflect, the short-liv'd good employ, 
And while the power remains, indulge your joy. 



XXXVIII. (99. B. 105.) 

ON SNOW SERVED AT A BANQUET. c 

With this the sharp north wind, rushing from Thrace, 

Hath strown Olympus to his giant base, 

And vex'd the cloakless wanderer's soul, while deep 

It lay beneath the cleft and crannied steep : 

But here the feast its tempering breath demands, 

For draughts preferr'd by hospitable hands. 

E 



74 SIMONIDES. 



XXXIX. (106. B. 112.) 
THE OFFERING OF THE PRIEST OF CYBELE. m 

From winter snows descending fiercely round, 

The priest of Cybele a shelter found 

Beneath a desert cliff, that beetling stood 

O'er the wild margin of the ocean flood. 

Here, as he wrung the moisture from his hair, 

He saw, advancing to his secret lair, 

With hunger fierce, and horrid to behold, 

The glim destroyer of the nightly fold. 

Then, all dismay'd, the sacred drum he shook 

With wide-extended hand, and wildly struck. 

— He struck : the hollow cave, within, around, 

On every side, rebellow'd to the sound. 

The forest's lord, o'ercome with holy dread, 

Back to his native woods, loud howling, fled — 

Fled from that trembling votary, — -He, in praise 

Of her, whose power redeem' d his forfeit days, 

Now hangs these locks, and garments wet with brine, 

(For his deliverance due,) at Rhsea's shrine. 



BACCHYLIDES. *Jb 



BACCHYLIDES.f 

Aeixl/avd r evKapTtevvra fieXnTTaKTiov dirb Movcrwv, 
SiavOovs etc Ka\d[j,r}s BaKxv\lde<*) ard^vas. — Meleager, i. 33. 

This poet, to whom the golden ears of corn are assigned 
by way of emblem, possibly with reference to the beautiful 
Fragment in which he celebrates the blessings of Peace and 
her attendant Plenty, was sister's son to Simonides the son 
of Leoprepes, and a native of the same island. He com- 
posed, like Pindar, who was by some years his predecessor, 
Odes in celebration of the victors at the Pythian games ; 
but, from the scanty remains which we now possess of his 
writings, it would be difficult to say how far king Hiero 
was justified in assigning him the preference over his illus- 
trious rival. The critical judgement of Longinus, who, in 
a somewhat ambiguous comparison between the two poets, 
ascribes to Bacchylides the praise of sweet and flowery 
diction, is, in the opinion of Mr. Elton, sufficiently con- 
firmed by the existing fragments, — which, together with 
two Epigrams, are twenty in number. 



FRAGMENTS. 



I. (1.) 
Peaceful wealth, or painful toil, 
Chance of war, or civil broil, 



f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 82. Biunck, i. p. 149. 
E 2 



BACCHYLIDES. 

"lis not for man's feeble race 
These to shun, or those embrace. 
But that all-disposing Fate 
Which presides o'er mortal state, 
Where it listeth, casts its shroud 
Of impenetrable cloud. 



II. (2.) 

Of happiness to mortal man 

One is the road, and one the goal, — 
To keep unburthen'd, all he can, 

From loads of care the tranquil soul. 
But whoso toileth night and day, 

Nor day nor night permits sweet rest 
To steal him from himself away, 

Or still the fever of his breast, 
Nought will it profit, though he bear 
On gloomy brow the stamp of care. 



III. (4.) TRUTH. * p. 122. 

As gold the Lydian touch-stone tries, 
So man— the virtuous, valiant, wise- 
Must to all-powerful truth submit 
His virtue, valour, and his wit. 



IV. (7, 6.) 

Not to be born 't were best, 
Nor view the light o' th' sun ; 
Since to be ever blest 



BACCHYLIDES. 

Is giv'n to none ; 
And Fate deals out his share, 
To each alike, of pain and care. 



V. (8.) 
Happy, to whom the gods have giv'n a share 
Of what is good and fair ; 
A life that 's free 
From dire mischance and ruthless poverty. 
To live exempt from care, 
Is not for mortal man, how blest soe'er he be. 



77 



VI. (9.) PEACE. * p. 188. 
For thee, sweet Peace, Abundance leads along 
Her jovial train, and bards awake to song. 
On many an altar, at thy glad return, 
Pure victims bleed, and holy odours burn ; 
And frolic youth their happy age apply 
To graceful movements, sports, and minstrelsy. 
Dark spiders weave their webs within the shield 
Rust eats the spear, the terror of the field ; 
And brazen trumpets now no more affright 
The silent slumber and repose of night. 
Banquet, and song, and revel fill the ways, 
And youths and maidens sing their roundelays. 



VII. (10.) ON THE DEATH OF A CHILD. 

Alas, poor child ! for thee our bosoms swell 
With grief, tears cannot cure, words may not tell. 



78 BACCHYLIDES. 

VIII. (11.) ANACREONTIC. 

Thirsty comrade ! wouldst thou know 
All the raptures that do flow 
From those sweet compulsive rules 
Of our ancient drinking schools — 
First, the precious draught shall raise 
Amorous thoughts in giddy maze, 
Mingling Bacchus' present treasure 
With the hopes of higher pleasure. 
Next, shall chase through empty air 
All th' intolerant host of Care ; 
Give thee conquest, riches, power ; 
Bid thee scale the guarded tower ; 
Bid thee reign o'er land and sea 
With unquestion'd sov'reignty. 
Thou thy palace shalt behold, 
Bright with ivory and gold ; 
While each ship that ploughs the main, 
Fill'd with Egypt's choicest grain, 
Shall unload her pond'rous store, 
Thirsty comrade ! at thy door. 



IX. (12.) HERCULES TO CEYX. 

. He stood upon the threshold stone 
While the feast was serving up, 
And said, " The righteous ever run 
Unbought, unbidden, every one, 
To where their fellows sup." .... 



BACCHYLIDES. 7$ 



X. (13.) 

Here no fatted oxen be, 
Gold, nor purple tapestry : 
But a well-disposed mind ; 
But a gentle muse, and kind ; 
But bright wine to glad our souls, 
Mantling in Boeotian bowls. 



XI. (14.) ON THE TEMPLE OF PALLAS ITONIA. m. 

Folded arms and saunt'ring pace 
Come not nigh this holy place. 
She whose image here is seen, 
Golden-iEgis-bearing queen, 
Dread Itonia, doth ordain 
For the suppliants at her fane 
Other services than these, — 
Tributes rare from bended knees. 



XII. (15.) 

Virtue, plac'd on high, doth shine 
With a glory all divine. 
Riches oft alike are shower' d 
On the hero and the coward. 



XIII. (16.) 
The high immortal gods are free 
From taint of man's infirmity ; 
Nor pale diseases round them wait, 
Nor pain distracts their tranquil state. 



80 BACCHYLIDES, 

XIV. (17.) 

Wise-men now, like those of old, 
Can but tell what others told. 
Full hard it is the hidden door 
Of words unspoken to explore. 



EPIGRAMS. 



XV. (19.) 
ON A POETICAL PRIZE. 

O sovereign Pallantean progeny ! 

Thou many-titled, Virgin Victory ! 

Long, long may'st thou behold with fav'ring eyes 

The bright Cranaean choir : and when the prize 

Of song the Muses have adjudg'd, bestow 

Thy wreath, to grace the Cean poet's brow. 



XVI. (20.) 
THE HUSBANDMAN'S OFFERING. * p. 423. m. 

To Zephyr, kindest wind, that swells the grain, 
Eudemus consecrates this humble fane ; 
For that he listen' d to his vows, and bore 
On his soft wings the rich autumnal store. 



SCO LI A OF VARIOUS POETS. 81 



SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS, f 

The true definition of the Greek Scolium appears to be, a 
short ode, or lyric composition, made to be sung or recited 
at banquets. Many of those which remain to us under that 
title, have the appearance of being struck off at the mo- 
ment, after the manner of the Italian improvisatori. They are 
often irregular in respect of metre, (whence, perhaps, the 
name assigned to them, from (tkoXios, crooked,) and, in 
point of subject, are rarely of the convivial cast which might 
be imagined from the occasion which produced them, but 
generally confined to some brief moral sentence or apo- 
phthegm, some patriotic action, or the celebration of the 
praises of some hero or deity. Their nature will be made 
more evident by the following specimens, among which the 
famous song of Harmodius and Aristogeiton is the most pro- 
minent. It may seem, however, to be carrying the love of 
classification too far to say (with Casaubon in his Animad- 
versions on Athenseus, lib. xv.) that they were invariably 
confined to the illustration of some proverbial truth or 
adage ; and that, for instance, the remarkable poem just 
mentioned is to be regarded in no other light than as in- 
tended to inculcate the maxim, that prudence is fit to be 
resorted to in aid of every human undertaking. To say no- 
thing of the bald insipidity of such a notion, it seems to 
be still more at variance with the character of several others 
in the list of Scolia ; although whether some of these be pro- 

t Jacobs, vol. i. p. 87. Brunck, i. p. 154. 
E 5 



82 SCOL1A OF VARIOUS POETS. 

perly included in that list may appear to admit of a ques- 
tion, as, for example, the beautiful hymn or ode to Health, 
which may be more fitly regarded as a Paean. And, again, it 
may be thought that several of the smaller pieces of Sappho, 
Alcseus, Simonides, and Bacchylides, cited as Fragments, 
ought rather to be regarded as Scolia, since they come 
precisely within the more general definition of the term. 
Thus, in fact, the distich which, following Bishop Blom- 
field, we have given as fifth in number among our trans- 
lations of Sappho's fragments, is inserted by Jacobs among 
the Scolia, and ascribed by him to Praxilla of Sicyon. On 
the other hand, though generally of a moral, they were not 
unusually also of the convivial or festive character, possi- 
bly as being made in honour of Bacchus : and, when so 
considered, are perhaps more properly to be ranked under 
the description of Pseans ; which last term, as Casaubon has 
shown, is by no means to be restricted to its original mean- 
ing, of a hymn in praise of Apollo, but may be extended to 
embrace any lyric composition in honour of the gods, made 
to be sung at certain solemnities, or for the purpose of re- 
citation, and with musical accompaniments. 



I. (1.) BYPITTACUS: cm. 

(One of the Seven Sages, a native of Mitylene, where he 
attained supreme power, and contemporary with Alcaeus 
and Sappho.) 

March, with bow and well-stock'd quiver 
Arm'd, against the wicked wight ; 



SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 83 

For his tongue is faithless ever, 
Words and thoughts jmt opposite. 



II. (2.) BY THE SAME. 

The wise with prudent thought provide 
Against misfortune's coming tide. 
The valiant, when the surge beats high, 
Undaunted brave its tyranny. 



III. (3.) BY BIAS : m. 

(Another of the Seven Sages, a native of Priene ; who was 
living at the time of the conquest of Ionia by the Persians, 
B. C. 544.) 

Whilst in the city 'tis your wish to dwell, 

Seek how to please all men of each estate : 
Thus may you prosper. Hate and Discord fell 
Too oft pursue the proud and obstinate. 



IV. (4.) UNCERTAIN. m. 

'Tis best from land to watch the raging sea, 

If so you may, and have the pow'r. 
But if you chance on the wild waves to be, 

Then make the best o' th' present hour. 



V. (5.) ANOTHER. 
O that we had the art to know 
Each man by more than outward show, — 



84 SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 

To ope the door of every breast, 

And see the soul's most secret place ; 

Then close it fast, — and, thus possess'd, 
Cling to our friends with strict embrace ! 



VI. (6.) ANOTHER : 

(ON THE ALCMuEONID^E, slain at leipsydrion.) 

Wo, wo to thee, Leipsydrion, 

Betrayer of the brother-band ! 
How brave were they thou 'st overthrown — 

How worthy of their native land — 
How proud the fathers, who may own 

For children such a patriot band ! 



VII. (7.) THE SONG OF HARMODIUS. * p. 122. 

BY CALLISTRATUS. D. 

(" Num verendum erat ne quis tyrannidem Pisistratidarum 
Athenis instaurare auderet, ubi in omnibus conviviis, et 
seque ab infima plebe in compitis, quotidie cantitaretur 
HkoXiov illud Callistrati neseio cujus, sed ingeniosi certe 
poetee, et valde boni civis ? " — Lowth, de Sacr. Poes. Hebr. 
p. 1 3, — where it is also observed that this most remark- 
able poem had by some been ascribed to Alcaeus, but by a 
strange anachronism, since that poet nourished eighty years 
before the event it commemorates. Of the name of Calli- 
stratus we find mention of two, — one, the son of Empedus, 
recorded by Pausanias as having fallen in the expedition of 
Nicias to Sicily, B. C. 413, — the other, son of Callicrates, 



SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 85 

and a distinguished Athenian orator, who nourished from 
B. C. 377 to 356. Whether either of these was the author 
of the Hymn to Harmodius, must be left to conjecture. If 
the first of the two, the composition of the poem must be 
referred to a period of nearly a century after the death of 
Hipparchus, by the hands of the Athenian patriots, B. C. 
514. But, though unwilling to ascribe it to a more recent 
period, we must not omit mention of a third Callistratus, 
the author of various pieces of poetry and poetical criticism, 
quoted by Athenseus and others, a list of which is given 
(vol. ii. p. 530) by Mr. Fynes Clinton, who fixes him at 
B. C. 154. 

I 'll wreathe my sword in myrtle bough, 
The sword that laid the tyrant low, 
When patriots, burning to be free, 
To Athens gave equality. 

Harmodius, hail ! though 'reft of breath, 
Thou ne'er shalt feel the stroke of death ; 
The heroes' happy isles shall be 
The. bright abode allotted thee. 

1 11 wreathe my sword in myrtle bough, 
The sword that laid Hipparchus low, 
When at Minerva's adverse fane 
He knelt, and never rose again. 

While Freedom's name is understood, 
You shall delight the wise and good ; 
You dar'd to set your country free, 
And gave her laws Equality. 



86 SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 

ANOTHER TRANSLATION OF THE SAME. d. 

In myrtle my sword will I wreathe, 
Like our patriots the noble and brave, 

Who devoted the tyrant to death, 
And to Athens equality gave. 

Lov'd Harmodius, thou never shalt die ! 

The poets exultingly tell 
That thine is the fullness of joy 

Where Achilles and Diomed dwell. 

In myrtle my sword will I wreathe, 
Like our patriots the noble and brave, 

Who devoted Hipparchus to death, 
And buried his pride in the grave. 

At the altar the tyrant they seiz'd, 

While Minerva he vainly implor'd, 
And the Goddess of Wisdom was pleas'd 

With the victim of Liberty's sword. 

May your bliss be immortal on high, 

Among men as your glory shall be ! 
Ye doom'd the usurper to die, 

And bade our dear country be free. 



VIII. (8.) A P^EAN. m. 

Io Pan ! we sing to thee, 

King of famous Arcady ! 

Mighty dancer ! follower free 

Of the nymphs, 'mid sport and glee ! 



SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 87 

lo Pan ! sing merrily 

To our merry minstrelsy ! 

We have gain'd the victory, 

We are all we wish'd to be, 

And keep with pomp and pageantry 

Pandrosos' great mystery. 



IX. (9.) ANOTHER. 

Pallas Tritonia ! sov'reign power ! 
Defend thy lov'd Athenian tower ! 
Raise and protect thy cherish'd state 
From civil war and stern debate ! 
Thou, and thy sire, her children save 
From doom of an untimely grave ! 



X. (15.) PROVERBIAL. 

Beneath each stone a scorpion lies : 
Comrade, hold, if thou be wise ; 
And, lest it seize thee, have a care ! 
Ever i' th' dark suspect a snare. 



XL (16.) ANOTHER. 

Whoso, in this our evil day, 

Will not his dearest friend betray, 

Right worthy is, in my esteem, 

That gods and men should honour' d deem. 



88 SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 

XII. (18.) * p. 77. ANON. 

Quaff with me the purple wine, 
And in youthful pleasures join ; 
Crown with me thy flowing hair ; 
With me love the blooming fair : 
When sweet madness fires my soul, 
Thou shalt rave without control ; 
When I'm sober, sink with me 
Into dull sobriety. 



XIII. (19.) 

I wish I were an ivory lyre — 

A lyre of burnish'd ivory — 
That to the Dionysian choir 

Blooming boys might carry me ! 
Or would I were a chalice bright, 

Of virgin gold by fire untried — 
For virgin chaste as morning light 

To bear me to the altar side. 



XIV. (22.) THE SOLDIER'S RICHES. * p. 124. 

BY HYBRIAS OF CRETE. M. 

(Of this author the name and country alone are preserved 
to us ; but the poem being classed by Athenseus together 
with most of the preceding Scolia, may be reasonably re- 
ferred to a like early date. It should be added, however, 
that the name Hybreas, without any particulars connected 
with it, is inserted by Mr. Clinton in his list of Greek 






SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 8£ 

authors (vol. ii. p. 548), and the date, B. C. 40, 3L 
assigned to it.) 

My riches are the arms I wield, 
The spear, the sword, the shaggy shield, 
My bulwark in the battle-field : 
With this 1 plough the furrow'd soil, 
With this I share the reaper's toil, 
With this I press the generous juice 
That rich and sunny vines produce ; 
With these, of rule and high command 
I bear the mandate in my hand ; 
For while the slave and coward fear 
To wield the buckler, sword, and spear, 
They bend the supplicating knee, 
And own my just supremacy. 



XV. (23.) A P^EAN. * p. 159. 

BY ARIPHRON OF SICYON. B, 

(The same ignorance awaits us as to the date and particu- 
lars of the history of this poet, as of the preceding.) 

Health, brightest visitant from Heav'n, 

Grant me with thee to rest ! 
For the short term by nature giv'n, 

Be thou my constant guest ! 
For all the pride that wealth bestows, 
The pleasure that from children flows, 
Whate'er we court in regal state 
That makes men covet to be great ; 



90 SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 

Whatever sweet we hope to find 

In love's delightful snares, 
Whatever good by Heav'n assign' d, 

Whatever pause from cares, — 
All nourish at thy smile divine ; 
The spring of loveliness is thine, 
And every joy that warms our hearts 
With thee approaches and departs. 



XVI. RICHES. * p. 122. 

BY TIMOCREON OF EHODES f : H. 

(Classed by Suidas, but apparently without reason, among 
the writers of the old comedy ,* while he is mentioned by 
Athenaeus and Plutarch as a victor in athletic games, and at 
the same time as a lyric poet and a satirist ; in which last ca- 
pacity he is said to have made both Themistocles and Simo- 
nides the objects of his ridicule, and to have undergone for 
that offence the poetical chastisement of an epitaph inflict- 
ed on him by one of the offended parties. See ante, p. 69.) 

Blinded Plutus ! didst thou dwell 

Nor in land, nor fathom'd sea, 
But only in the depths of hell — 

God of riches ! safe from thee, 

Man himself might happy be. 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 80. Brunck, i. p. 148. 



SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 91 

XVII. HYMN TO VIRTUE. 

BY ARISTOTLE, f F. 

(This remarkable poem, which there is every reason to be- 
lieve the genuine composition of the great philosopher 
whose name it bears, is here inserted on account of its 
resemblance in character to some of the preceding Scolia, 
and as completing our present series of Lyric Remains. 
Its authenticity appears to be confirmed by the story, which 
is connected with it, as related by Diogenes Laertius, — that 
the philosopher underwent an accusation on the charge of 
impiety, for composing and daily reciting a hymn or psean 
in honour of his patron Hermias, tyrant of Atarnse, an 
eunuch, and originally a slave. (See Bentley, Phileleuth. 
Lips. §. 47.) 

It remains only to be noticed that Aristotle was born 
B. C. 384, and died B. C. 322, twenty-five years after the 
death of Plato, who was born B. C. 429.) 

O sought with toil and mortal strife 

By those of human birth, 
Virtue, thou noblest end of life, 

Thou goodliest gain on earth ! 
Thee, Maid, to win, our youth would bear, 
Unwearied, fiery pains ; and dare 

Death for thy beauty's worth ; 
So bright thy proffer' d honours shine, 
Like clusters of a fruit divine. 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 110. Brunck, i, p. 177. 



92 SCOLIA OF VARIOUS POETS. 

Sweeter than slumber's boasted joys, 

And more desir'd than gold, 
Dearer than nature's dearest ties : — 

For thee those heroes old, 
Herculean son of highest Jove, 
And the twin-birth of Leda, strove 

By perils manifold : 
Pelides' son with like desire, 
And Ajax, sought the Stygian fire. 

The bard shall crown with lasting bay, 

And age immortal make 
Atarna's sovereign, 'reft of day 

For thy dear beauty's sake : 
Him therefore the recording Nine 
In songs extol to heights divine, 

And every chord awake ; 
Promoting still, with reverence due, 
The meed of friendship, tried and true. 



END OF PART I. 



PART II. 






CONTAINING SPECIMENS OF THE POETS COMPRISED IN 
MELEAGER'S GARLAND. 



^SCHYLUS.f 

A name more illustrious, with which to commence this se- 
cond division, could not be found than that of iEschylus, 
the date of whose birth (B. C. 525) corresponds with the 
second year of the reign of Hipparchus at Athens ; the pe- 
riod of the first arrival of Simonides and Anacreon in that 
city. His first tragic exhibitions took place when he was 
about twenty-five years of age (B. C. 499) ; and he lived, as 
Mr. Fynes Clinton has been at considerable pains to prove, 
till 456, when he had nearly attained that of seventy. At 
the same time, however, that we adopt the two following 
epigrams as having been ascribed to him, it must be ob- 
served that the evidence in favour of their genuineness 
is, at least, very equivocal. He appears to have died at the 
court of Hiero, to which he had retired some years pre- 
viously ; disgusted, says the tradition, by the triumph of 

j Jacobs, vol. i. p. 81. Brunck, ii. p. 523. 



94 ^SCHYLUS, 

Sophocles, to whom the first prize in tragedy was awarded, 
when yet a young man, in preference to his veteran com- 
petitor ; on which account also, he is said to have written, 
or caused to be written, the Epitaph which forms the se- 
cond of the two following pieces, " making mention only 
of his share in the victory of Marathon, without any allu- 
sion to his dramatic excellencies." 

The Anthologia contains also an Epigram by each of his 
great successors and rivals in tragedy, Sophocles and Euri- 
pides, both at least equally questionable, and neither worthy 
of preservation. 



I. (1.) 
ON THOSE WHO FELL AT THERMOPYLAE, c. m. 

These, too, defenders of their country, fell, — 
These mighty souls to gloomy death betray'd : 

Immortal is their fame, who, suffering well, 
Of Ossa's dust a glorious garment made. 



II. (2.) EPITAPH FOR HIMSELF. c. m, 

Athenian iEschylus, Euphorio's son, 

Buried in Gela's fields, these lines declare : 

His deeds are register' d at Marathon, 

Known to the deep-hair'd Mede who met him there. 



EMPEDOCLES. 95 



EMPEDOCLES.f 

Two epigrams remain to us, bearing the name of this cele- 
brated philosopher and naturalist, who was a native of Agri- 
gentum, and nourished about the eighty-first Olympiad, 
B. C. 455. Both are distinguished by the use of "the figure 
Paronomasia, or Pun," — a peculiarity in which the gravest 
sages of antiquity appear to have been very conversant, 
and (with the illustrious Martin Scriblerus,) to have ranked 
among the principal beauties of composition. The first is a 
single couplet, abounding in graces of this description : 

"AKpov larpbv "Aicpiov', 'AKpayavrlvov, 7raro6s dicpov, 
npvirrei Kpr}}xvb$ a/epos 7rarpiSos a.Kpordrr]s. 

The second presents us, in the name " Pausanias," with an 
opportunity of preserving in a translation one at least of the 
brace of double meanings contained in the original. We 
give it, not more on account of the celebrity of its author, 
than as a specimen of this sort of punning epigram. • 



EPITAPH ON A PHYSICIAN. 

Pausanias — not so nam'd without a cause, 
As one who oft has giv'n to pain a pause — 
Blest son of iEsculapius, good and wise, 
Here, in his native Gela, buried lies ; 
Who many a wretch once rescu'd by his charms 
From dark Persephone's constraining arms. 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 95. Brunck, i. p. 163. 



96 EUENUS. 



EUENUS.f 

There were at least three poets of different ages, whose 
remains are confounded together, under this name, in the 
several editions of the Anthology, although, in all, they 
amount to no more than sixteen in number. The first in date 
of these several contributors was a native of Paros, and an 
author of Elegies, of which it is possible that some of the 
pieces now recognised as Epigrams are merely fragments. 
The date assigned him on the authority of Eusebius is the 
third year of the eighty-second Olympiad, B. C. 450; and 
to him must, it is conceived, be at all events attributed the 
short moral and proverbial sentences (most of them single 
lines, or couplets,) which constitute the first six in the col- 
lection. To these we would willingly add, for its exquisite 
grace and elegance, the thirteenth — -Ardi icopa fxeXidpeirre, 
— of which a version is here attempted. Of the two later 
poets of this name, the date of one is referred to the 138th 
Olympiad (B. C. 228), of the other to a still more recent 
period. 



I. (3.) ON THE VICE OF CONTRADICTION, m. 

In contradiction, wrong or right, 
Do many place their sole delight. 

f Jacobs, vol. i. p. 96. Brunck, i. p. 164. 



EUENUS. 97 

If right, 't is well — if wrong, why so — 

But contradict whate'er you do. 

Such reasoners deserve, I hold, 

No argument save that of old — 

You say 't is black — / say, 't is white — 

And so, good Sir, you 're answer'd quite." 

Far different is the aspect seen 

Of modest Wisdom's quiet mien — 

Patient, and soon to be persuaded, 

When argument by truth is aided. 



II. (7.) 
THE VINE AND THE GOAT. 

Though thou shouldst gnaw me to the root, 
Destructive goat ! — enough of fruit 
I bear, betwixt thy horns to shed, 
When to the altar thou art led. 



III. (13.) 
THE SWALLOW AND THE GRASSHOPPER. 

Attic Maiden, breathing still 

Of the fragrant flowers that blow 

On Hymettus' purpled hill, 

Whence the streams of honey flow ; 

Wherefore thus a captive bear 

To your nest the grasshopper ? 

Noisy prattler, cease to do 

To your fellow-prattler wrong : 



98 EUENUS. 

Kind should not its kind pursue, — 

Least of all the heirs of song. 
Prattler ! seek some other food 
For your noisy prattling brood. 

Both are ever on the wing, 

Wanderers both in foreign bowers, 

Both succeed the parting spring, 
Both depart with summer hours. 

— Those who love the minstrel lay 

Should not on each other prey. 

IV. (14.) ON THE RUINS OF TROY. c. m 

Time's ashes, on my turrets shed, 
Have worn their pride away : 
I was that Ilion of whom men have read 
In Homer's living lay! 
No more shall Argive sword and spear 
My brazen bulwark shake : 
But in the voice of nations loud and clear 
My monument I make. 

V. (15.) -MIX WATER WITH YOUR WINE." cm. 

Water your wine in moderation — 
There 's grief, or madness, in a strong potation : 

For 't is young Bacchus' chiefest pleasure 
To move with Naiads three in linked measure : 

'T is then he is good company 
For sports, and loves, and decent jollity. 

But, when alone, avoid his breath ! 
He breathes not love, but sleep — a sleep like death. 



SIMMIAS OF THEBES. 99 



SIMMIAS OF THEBES.f 

This author, distinguished from another of the same name, 
who was a Rhodian, by that of his country, is supposed 
to be the same that is mentioned among the intimate 
friends of Socrates who were present at his death, B. C. 
399 ; but whether to him, or to his namesake, is to be as- 
signed the place in Meleager's Garland indicated by the 
words fipu)Ti]i> axpada St/z/itew (Mel. i. 30.), " the wild pear 
of Simmias," must be left to conjecture. There are only 
two Epigrams ascribed to this Theban Simmias, both in 
honour of Sophocles. We give the best of the two in the 
well-known version of the Spectator. 



(2.) ON SOPHOCLES. * p. 298. anon. 

Wind, gentle evergreen, to form a shade 
Around the tomb where Sophocles is laid. 
Sweet ivy, lend thine aid ; and intertwine 
With blushing roses, and the clustering vine. 
Thus shall thy lasting leaves, with beauties hung, 
Prove grateful emblems of the lays he sung. 

t Jacobs, i. p. 100. Brunck, i. p. 168. 
F 2 



100 PLATO. 



PLATO.f 

Nai /xr)v Kai xpvaeiov del Oeioto HX&tojvos 

KXiova, top e£ dpert)s irdvToQt Xcifnrdfjievov. — Meleager, i. 47. 

This emblem of the golden bough resplendent on every side 
with virtue, accompanied by the epithet " divine," suffici- 
ently indicates that the greatest of heathen philosophers is 
the Plato here intended, and consequently proves thatMelea- 
ger's Anthology comprised some verses which were, or were 
at least reputed to be, of his composition. Of the thirty 
Epigrams printed in Jacobs's collection, one is elsewhere 
ascribed to Asclepiades ; and some recent German commen- 
tators have thrown doubts on the genuineness of several 
others. But, if the ground of rejection be merely the 
light and trivial nature of most of the subjects, as deemed 
unworthy of so exalted a reputation, the reason will hardly 
be admitted as entitled to any weight against the strong 
probability arising out of Meleager's testimony ; while the 
elegance in the turn of thought and expression of many 
of the poems, seems to mark them as belonging to an age 
not inferior in antiquity to that of the great philosopher ; 
and the conceits with which they are interspersed are in 



f Jacobs, i. p. 102. Brunck, i. p. 169. 



PLATO. 101 

accordance with the fanciful character impressed on some 
of his most exalted conceptions. 



I. (1.) A LOVER'S WISH. moore. 

Why dost thou gaze upon the sky ? 

Oh that I were yon spangled sphere ! 
Then every star should be an eye 

To wander o'er thy beauties here. 



II. (2.) THE KISS. 

Oh ! on that kiss my soul, 
As if in doubt to stay, 
Linger'd awhile, on fluttering wing prepar'd 
To soar away. 



III. (5.) THE CHALLENGE. c. m. 

I throw an apple at my fair ; 

And if she love me, love me truly, 
She 11 guess aright the hidden prayer, 

Accept it, and reward me duly. 

But if — oh let it not be spoken ! — 
She have no mind to be persuaded, 

Still let her take the Lover's token, 
And think how soon it will be faded. 



102 PLATO. 

IV. (7.) LAIS'S LOOKING-GLASS. * p. 425. b. 

I who, erewhile, in fame and beauty proud. 
Before my lattice drew an amorous crowd, 
Lais the fair, my hateful glass resign, 
An offering, heav'nly Venus, at thy shrine : 
For what I am, 't is piteous to behold, 
And Time has ruin'd what I was of old. 



THE SAME. prior. 

Venus, take my votive glass ! 
Since I am not what I was, 
What from this day I shall be, 
Venus ! let me never see. 



V. (8.) 
ON A BRONZE IMAGE OF A FROG. 

Servant of the Nymphs who dwell 

In the fountain's deepest cell, 
Lover of shades — hoarse frog, that carol free, 
Where streamlets run, my rustic minstrelsy — 

Me the thirsty traveller 
Hath in brass ensculptur'd here, 
A grateful offering to the powers who gave, 
To slake his burning thirst, the welcome wave. 

Croaking minstrel — faithful guide — 

I reveal' d the hidden tide 
Of waters, bubbling from the reedy lake, 
That agony of burning thirst to slake. 



PLATO. 103 

VI. (9.) 
ON THE STATUE OF VENUS AT CNIDOS. m. 

Bright Cytherea thought one day 

To Cnidos she 'd repair, 
Gliding across the watery way, 

To view her image there. 

But when, arriv'd, she cast around 

Her eyes divinely bright, 
And saw upon that holy ground 

The gazing world's delight ; 

Amaz'd, she cried, while blushes told 
The thoughts that swell' d her breast, 
" Where did Praxiteles behold . . . . ? 
He could not, sure, have guess'd ! 



VII. (11.) ON ARISTOPHANES. 

The Muses, seeking for a shrine 

Whose glories ne'er should cease, 
Found, as they stray' d, the soul divine 
Of Aristophanes. 



VIII. (14.) 
ON A RURAL IMAGE OF PAN. * p. 369. 

Sleep, ye rude winds ! be every murmur dead 
On yonder oak-crown'd promontory's head ! 
Be still, ye bleating flocks ! your shepherd calls ; 
Hang silent on your rocks, ye waterfalls ! 



104 PLATO. 

Pan on his oaten pipe awakes the strain, 

And fills with dulcet sounds the pastoral plain. 

Lur'd by his notes, the Nymphs their bowers forsake, 

From every fountain, running stream, and lake, 

From every hill and ancient grove around, 

And to symphonious measures strike the ground. 



IX. (15.) 
ON THE IMAGES OF A SATYR AND CUPID. 

* p. 368. 

From mortal hands my being I derive ; 

Mute marble once, from man I learn' d to live : 

A Satyr now, with Nymphs I hold resort, 

And guard the watery grottos where they sport. 

In purple wine denied to revel more, 

Sweet draughts of water from my urn I pour. 

But, Stranger, softly tread, lest any sound 

Awake yon boy, in rosy slumbers bound. 



X. (19.) ON MUTABILITY. : 

Time bears the world away ; — a little date 

Will change name, beauty, nature — aye, and Fate. 



XI. (20.) 
ON A WALNUT-TREE BY THE ROAD-SIDE. m. 

By the road-side a mark I stand 
For every passing school-boy's hand ; 



PLATO. 105 

A helpless butt, whereon to try 
The skill of their rude archery. 
My branches, erst so widely spread, 
The leafy honours of my head, 
Scatter'd around me, shent and broke 
By many a pointed marble's stroke. 
— Plants of the forest ! pray, that ne'er 
Your boughs may fruit or blossom bear : 
If to be barren be a curse, 
Your fatal fruitfulness is worse. 



XII. (21.) MOORE. 

In life thou wert my morning star ; 

But now that death hath quench'd thy light, 
Alas ! thou shinest, dim and far, 

Like the pale beam that weeps at night. 



XIII. (22.) ON DION OF SYRACUSE. c. m. 

For Priam's queen and daughters at their birth 

The Fates weav'd tears into the web of life : 
But for thee, Dion, in thy hour of mirth, 

When triumph crown' d thy honourable strife, 
Thy gathering hopes were pour'd upon the sand : 

Thee, still, thy countrymen revere, and lay 
In the broad precincts of thy native land. 

But who the passion of my grief can stay ? 



f 5 



106 PLATO. 

XIV. (23.). 

ON TWO NEIGHBOURING TOMBS. 

This is a sailor's — that a ploughman's tomb ; 
Thus sea and land abide one common doom. 



XV. (26.) ON A STRANDED CORPSE. m. 

A shipwreck' d mariner you here behold, 
From whose dead limbs ev'n Ocean rude relented 

To strip the cloak that did those limbs enfold. 

Unpitying man, more rude, that covering tore — 
How little worth, to be so long repented ! — 

So let him bear away his plunder'd store ; 
And go to hell — he '11 wish the deed undone 
When Minos sees him with my tatters on . 



XVI. (29.) 

ON A STATUE OF CUPID SLEEPING. * p. 368. 

I pierc'd the grove ; and in its deepest gloom 

Beheld sweet Love, of heav'nly form and bloom ; 

Nor bow nor quiver at his back were slung, 

But, harmless, on the neighbouring branches hung. 

On rosebuds pillow' d lay the little child, 

In glowing slumbers pleas'd, and sleeping smil'd, 

While, all around, the bees delighted sip 

The fragrance of his smooth and balmy lip. 



PLATO. 107 

THE SAME. k. 

Deep in the bosom of a shady grove 
We found, conceal'd, the truant god of love. 
The boy was sleeping ; and his smiling face 
Glow'd like a ripe peach with a purple grace. 
Unarm'd he lay — his bow and quiver hung 
Upon the leafy boughs of trees ; among 
Roses fresh-blown his little head repos'd, 
And round his laughing lips, that, half-unclos'd, 
Invited kisses, dropping from on high, 
A swarm of golden bees began to ply 
Their busy task ; as if no hive could prove 
So fit for honey as the mouth of Love. 



XVII. (30.) 
THE ANSWER OF THE MUSES TO VENUS. 

*p. 115. M. 

When Venus bade the Aonian maids obey, 

Or her own son should vindicate her sway, 

The virgins answer' d, " Threat your subjects thus ! 

That puny warrior has no arms for us." 



THE SAME. prior. 

Thus to the Muses spoke the Cyprian dame : 
Adore my altars, and revere my name ; 
My son shall else assume his potent darts : 
Twang goes the bow ; — my girls, have at your hearts !" 



108 SPEUSIPPUS. 

The Muses answer' d Venus, " We deride 
The vagrant's malice, and his mother's pride : 
Send him to nymphs who sleep on Ida's shade, 
To the loose dance and wanton masquerade : 

" Our thoughts are settled, and intent we look 
On the instructive verse and moral book : 
On female idleness his power relies, 
But when he finds us studying hard, he flies." 



SPEUSIPPUS.f 



The disciple of Plato, and his successor in the Academy 
Olymp. 108, B. C. 347. 



EPITAPH ON PLATO. 



Plato's dead form this earthy shroud invests : 
His soul among the godlike heroes rests. 



f Jacobs, i. p. 109. Brunck, i. p. 176, 



ARISTOTLE. 109 



ARISTOTLE.f 

Of this philosopher, beside the Hymn to Virtue already 
inserted, the Anthology contains a single Epigram, of no 
value; and a long succession (forty-eight in number) of 
equally worthless inscriptions, called Epitaphs, on the He- 
roes of the Trojan War. From among these, we have 
selected the following, the only one which exceeds the 
limits of a single distich, by way of introduction to the 
Parody of Mnasalcus, which will be found under the head 
of that poet. It is ascribed by some to Plato ; and, as it is 
not in uniformity with the other inscriptions among which 
it is here placed, it seems probable that Aristotle is, after 
all, not entitled to it. 



III. (6.) ON THE TOMB OF AJAX. 

By Ajax' tomb, in solemn state, 

I, Virtue, as a mourner wait, 

With hair dishevell'd, sable vest, 

Fast- streaming eyes, and heaving breast ; 

Since in the Grecian tents I see 

Fraud, hateful Fraud, preferr'd to me. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 111. Brunck, i. p. 178. 



110 



MNASALCUS. 



MNASALCUS.f 

MvacraXicov re Kofias 6'ivTropov 7tltvos. — Meleager, i. 16. 

The age of this author is unknown. Strabo, after Theo- 
doridas, mentions him as one of the tribe of Platsese in 
Sicyon ; and Athenseus (lib. iv. p. 163,) also calls him a 
Sicyonian. However, as Theodoridas, whom Strabo fol- 
lows, appears to have lived till about the 136th Olympiad 
(B. C. 236), it is clear that the date of his death must be 
sought at some earlier period; nor does there appear 
any reason for placing it, as Jacobs is disposed to do, at 
a period either immediately, or very shortly, preceding. 
On the other hand, one of his Epigrams (the second in the 
collection,) is an inscription on the dedication to Diana of 
the Shield of Alexander — the Great, as Reiske conjectures 
— whose death preceded that of Theodoridas by nearly a 
century (B. C. 323). But Reiske's conjecture is unsup- 
ported by evidence ; and its probability seems to be neither 
increased nor diminished by the circumstance, that of the 
two succeeding Epigrams, both on the dedication of shields 
— the former refers to that of some other Alexander con- 
tradistinguished by the appellation <bvX\eos, and the latter 
to that of Clitus, who may, or may not, be the same as the 
celebrated friend and foster-brother of the Macedonian 
madman, whom (as Captain Fluellen has it,) he killed " in 

f Jacobs, i. p. 123. Brunck, i. p. 190. 



MNASALCUS. 11] 

his ates and his angers." The Epigrams of this author are 
composed in a terse and manly style, meant perhaps to 
be illustrated by Meleager's emblem of the sharp leaves of 
the pine-tree. Those which remain to us are eighteen in 
number ; but, notwithstanding the merit of simplicity and 
a certain portion of elegance, they possess too little variety 
to invite the labours of the translator. 



I. (1.) ON A VINE. 

Sweet Vine ! when howls the wintry hour, 
Not now thy leafy honours shower ; 
Nor strew them on the thankless plain — 
Soon autumn will come round again. 
Then, when with heat and wine opprest, 
Beneath thy grateful bower, to rest, 
Antileon lays his drooping head, 
Oh then thy shadowy foliage shed 
In heaps around the sleeping boy ! 
Thus Beauty should be crown'd by Joy. 



II. (2.) ON THE SHIELD OF ALEXANDER. 

A holy offering at Diana's shrine, 
See Alexander's glorious shield recline ; 
Whose golden orb, through many a bloody day 
Triumphant, ne'er in dust dishonour' d lay. 



112 MNASALCUS. 

III. (6.) ON A BOW AND QUIVER. m. 

Phcebus ! to thee this curved bow and empty- sounding 

quiver 
Are offer' d at thy sacred shrine by Promachus, the giver. 
But ah ! the shafts thatus'd within that painted case to rattle, 
Now in the foemen's hearts are sheath'd, whom he hath 

slain in battle. 

IV. (7.) 

ON A PIPE IN THE TEMPLE OF VENUS. h. 

Say, rustic Pipe ! in Cytherea's dome 
Why sounds this echo of a shepherd's home ? 
Nor rocks, nor valleys here invite the strain ; 
But all is Love — go, seek thy hills again. 



V. (8.) 
ON A TEMPLE OF VENUS ON THE SEA-SHORE, m. 
Here let us from the wave-wash'd beach behold 

Sea-born Cythera's venerable fane, 
And fountains, fring'd with shady poplars old, 
Where dip their wings the golden Halcyon train. 



VI. (10.) ON A DEAD LOCUST. 

No more shalt thou, by fruitful furrows sitting, 
Make with resounding wings glad minstrelsy ! 

Nor with loud chirps, my merry mood befitting, 
Soothe me reclin'd beneath the forest tree. 



NOSSTS. 



113 



VII. (14.) PARODY. (See Aristotle, p. 109.) m. 

In woeful guise, at Pleasure's gate, 

I, Virtue, as a mourner wait, 

With hair in loose disorder flowing, 

And breast with fierce resentment glowing ; 

Since, all the country round, I see 

Base sensual joys preferr'd to me. 



NOSSIS.f 

2i'V d' dvaf.u% 7r\e£as jivpoirvovv evdvOefiov Ipiv 

"Nocrcidos, 77s ScXtois Krjpbv err)%ev "Epws. — Meleager, i. 9. 

" To Nossis the Locrian, as Bentley first observed," (says 
the author of an article in the Edinburgh Review already 
cited,) " Meleager seems to attribute an amorous temper 
and a warm imagination. But the twelve Epigrams from 
her pen which have survived, display rather an attempt to 
shine in that pointed style, which at least invaded this pro- 
vince of Greek poetry, and which a woman hardly ever 
attempts successfully." According to the evidence of her 
own poems, as collected by Mr. Fynes Clinton (Fasti Helle- 
nici, vol. ii. p. 486), she was a native of Locri in Italy ; the 
name of her mother Theophilis, and that of her maternal 
grandfather Cleochas ; she alludes in one of her pieces to a 
war between her countrymen and the Bruttians — the esta- 
blishment of whom as a distinct people is referred by Strabo 

f Jacobs, i. 127. Brunck, i. 194. 



114 NOSSIS. 

to B. C. 356 ; and another is in commemoration of Rhin- 
thon, a dramatic poet who nourished in the reign of Ptolemy 
Soter. Jacobs very properly rejects the absurd conjecture of 
Reiske, of two poetesses of the same name, founded on an 
epigram in praise of Sappho, in which there seems no ground 
for imagining that she is spoken of as a contemporary. 



I. (1.) IN PRAISE OF LOVE. m. 

What in life is half so sweet 
As the hour when lovers meet ? 
Not the joys that Fortune pours ; 
Not Hymettus' fragrant stores. 
Thus says Nossis — Whosoe'er 
Venus takes not to her care, 
Never shall the roses know, 
In her blooming bowers that grow. 

II. (2.) ON AN IMAGE OF HER DAUGHTER, m. 

In this lov'd stone Melinna's self I trace. 
'Tis hers, that form — 'tis hers, that speaking face : 
How like her mother's ! Oh what joy, to see 
Ourselves reflected in our progeny ! 

III. (9.) ON THE PICTURE OF THYMARETE. m. 

On yonder tablet grav'd I see 
The form of my Thymarete : 
Her gracious smile, her lofty air, 
Warm as in life, are blended there. 



ANYTE. 115 



Her little fondled dog, that keeps 
Still watch around her while she sleeps, 
Would in that shape his mistress trace, 
And fawning lick her honour'd face. 



IV. (12.) ON RHINTHON, 

THE INVENTOR OF TRAGI-COMEDY. M. 

With hearty laughter pass this column by — 
Just meed of praise to him who slumbers nigh. 
Rhinthon my name — my home was Syracuse — 
And though no tuneful darling of the Muse, 
I first made Tragedy divert the town, 
And wove — nay, doubt not — my own ivy crown. 



ANYTE. 

HoWa fiev e/*7r\e£as 'Avvrrjs Kpiva. — Meleager, i. 5. 

" Why this poetess was called by Antipater ' the female 
Homer,' it is difficult to guess. We have rather more than 
twenty of her compositions — Epigrams in the more ancient 
acceptation of the term ; and a certain sweet simplicity, 
rather than Homeric force, is their characteristic." (Edinb. 
Rev. ubi supra.) She was a native of Tegea ; and the date 
of her compositions appears to be fixed by reference to 
one of them, which alludes to the irruption of the Gauls 
into Asia (B. C. 278), coupled with the circumstance that 
her statue is said to have been the work of Euthycrates 



116 ANYTE. 

and Cephisodotus, who, according to Pliny, worked in the 
120th Olympiad, B. C. 300. Her Epigrams, collected by 
Jacobs, are twenty-two in number ; and most possess a 
delicacy and tenderness of style, which seem to entitle her 
to the emblem of the White Lily above assigned her. 



I. (5.) ON A STATUE OF VENUS. * p. 371. b. 

Cythera from this craggy steep 
Looks downward on the glassy deep, 
And hither calls the breathing gale, 
Propitious to the venturous sail ; 
While ocean flows beneath, serene, 
Aw'd by the smile of Beauty's Queen. 



II. (6.) 
ON A LAUREL BY A FOUNTAIN'S SIDE. * p. 357. h, 

Rest thee beneath yon laurel's ample shade, 
And quaff the limpid stream that issues there ; 

So thy worn frame, for summer's toil repaid, 
May feel the freshness of the western air. 



III. (7.) ON THE ENTRANCE TO A CAVERN, anon. 
Stranger, beneath this rock thy limbs bestow — 

Sweet, 'mid the green leaves, breezes whisper here : 
Drink the cool wave, while noontide fervors glow ; 

For such the rest to wearied pilgrim dear. 



ANYTE. 117 

IV. (12.) ON A DOLPHIN CAST ASHORE, h. 

No more exulting o'er the buoyant sea 
High shall I raise my head in gambols free ; 
Nor by some gallant ship breathe out the air, 
Pleas'd with my own bright image figur'd there. 
The storm's black mist has forc'd me to the land, 
And laid me lifeless on this couch of sand. 



V. (17.) ON THE VIRGINS OF MILETUS, m. 

Then let us hence, Miletus dear ! sweet native land, fare- 
well ! 
Th' insulting wrongs of lawless Gauls we fear, whilst here 

we dwell, 
Three virgins of Milesian race, to this dire fate compell'd 
By Celtic Mars — yet glad we die, that we have ne'er be- 
held 
'Spousals of blood, nor sunk to be vile handmaids to our foes, 
But rather owe our thanks to Death, kind healer of our 
woes. 



VI. (18.) EPITAPH. * p. 285. m. 

Poor Erato, when the cold hand of Death 
Chok'd the faint struggles of her labouring breath, 
And parting life scarce glimmer'd in her face, 
Strain'd her fond parent in a last embrace : 
O father, I 'm no more — dark clouds arise, — 
The mists of death hang heavy o'er my eyes ! " 



118 MYRO. 

VII. (19.) ANOTHER. * p. 285. 

In this sad tomb where Clino sleeps, sweet maid ! 
Her mother oft invokes the gentle shade, 
And calls, in hopeless grief, on her who died 
In the full bloom of youth and beauty's pride ; 
Who left, a virgin, the bright realms of day, 
On gloomy Acheron's pale coasts to stray. 



VIII. (22.) ANOTHER. * (See p. 286.) k 

Drop o'er Antibia's grave a pious tear ; 

For Virtue, Beauty, Wit, He buried here. 

Full many a suitor sought her father's hall, 

To gain the Virgin's love ; but Death o'er all 

Claim'd dire precedence : Who shall Death withstand ? 

Their hopes were blasted by his ruthless hand. 



MYRO.f 



7roXXd de Mvpovs 

Aeipia Meleager, i. 5, 6. 

" With Myro, the last of our series, B. C. 280," (we again 
quote the Edinburgh critic in his account of this lady,) ' ' the 
literary glories of Byzantium began to dawn. She cori- 



f Jacobs, i, p. 135. Brunck, i. p. 202. 



MYRO. 119 

posed, in the taste of her age, the usual allowance of Epi- 
grams, two of which are extant. But her most famous 
work was one in heroic metre, called Mnemosyne, which 
appears, from the fragments yet remaining, to have been 
mythological. In another sense also she produced poetry, 
having given birth to Homer the younger, one of the Tragic 
Pleiad, who shed their watery beams over the reign of 
Ptolemy Philadelphus." 

The two Epigrams are subjoined : the fragment of the 
Mnemosyne contains a very common-place narrative of the 
education of Jupiter in the Isle of Crete, and little worthy 
preservation. 



I. (1.) ON A GRAPE PRESENTED TO VENUS, m, 

Beneath Cythera's golden porch thou liest, 

Sweet Grape ! with Bacchus' richest nectar swelling. 
Thy mother-plant, amid her leafy dwelling, 

Mourns her lost child. Far off, sweet Grape, thou diest ! 



II. (2.) ON SOME STATUES OF HAMADRYADS, h. 

Fair daughters of the stream, whose rosy feet 
Within this deep ambrosial water shine, 

Hail ! and preserve the youth whose worship meet 
Rais'd your pure forms beneath the shady pine. 



120 SIMMIAS OF RHODES. 



SIMMIAS OF RHODES.t 

This Simmias, who is distinguished as a grammarian, is 
mentioned among the eminent men of Rhodes by Strabo, 
xiv. p. 655, and is placed by Mr. Clinton (2 Fast. Hell. 
487,) immediately after the three female poets, but without 
any certain date. From Hephsestion it is proved that he 
was anterior to the 120th Olympiad. Jacobs supposes that 
he, and not his namesake of Thebes (see before, p. 99), 
is the poet inscribed by Meleager in his Wreath. His name 
is associated, in the minds of all school-boy readers of the 
Poetae Minores, with the figures of altars, wings, battle- 
axes, and eggs, to which he was perhaps the earliest in- 
ventor of the delectable and highly profitable art of subject- 
ing the rebel Muse, being the first (at least upon record,) of 
that illustrious tribe of dunces, who 

" wings display, and altars raise, 

And torture one poor word a thousand ways." 

We shall neither endeavour to imitate any of these his 
laudable exploits, nor fatigue our readers with either of the 
five dull Epigrams which are ascribed to him, but, on ac- 
count of his supposed insertion in Meleager's Anthology, 
present them with a translation of the following remarkable 
fragment of a poem in praise of Apollo, which may appear 
to have deserved a somewhat higher rank in the Temple of 
the Muses. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 136. Brunck, i. p. 204. 



ASCLEPIADES. 121 

(5.) APOLLO.— A FRAGMENT. c. m. 

I eeach'd the distant Hyperborean state, — 
The wealthy race, — at whose high banquet sate 
Perseus the hero. On those wide- stretch' d plains 
Ride the Massagetse, (giving the reins 
To their fleet coursers,) skilful with the bow. — 
And then I came to the stupendous flow 
Of Campasus, who pours his mighty tide 
To th' ocean sea, eternally supplied. — 
Thence to islands, clad with olives green and young, 
With many a tufted bulrush overhung. 
A giant race, half-man, half-dog, live there : 
Beneath their shoulders grow the heads they wear ; 
Jaws long and lank, and grisly tusks they bear : 
Much foreign tongues they learn, and can indite ; 
But when they strive to speak, they bark outright. 



ASCLEPIADES.f 

2iKe\i£eo» r aVe/xois avQea <pv6fieva. — Meleager, i. 46. 

Jacobs entertains a doubt whether the emblem of the ane- 
mone (the flower begotten by the Winds), together with the 
honours of insertion in the Garland of Meleager, be in this 
verse assigned to the Sicilian Theocritus, or to Asclepiades 
of Samos, who was the friend and preceptor of Theocritus, 
and to whom the epithet Sicelides is also given by ancient 

f Jacobs, i. p. 144. Brunck, i. p. 211. 
G 



122 ASCLEPIADES. 

authors, as derived from his father. To this poet belong, 
beyond all doubt, two of the Epigrams (the 32nd and 33rd) 
which came under this title in the Anthology, on account 
of their allusions to the Egyptian princesses Berenice and 
Cleopatra, who were his contemporaries. With respect to 
the remainder, we have no distinct evidence by which to 
assign them to this elder Asclepiades, in preference to a 
later poet of the same name (who was of Adramyttus), or 
to a third, or a fourth Asclepiades — both of whom were 
natives of Myrlea, and included in the list of Greek authors 
furnished by Mr. Clinton in the second volume of his Fasti 
Hellenici. The greater part, however, are of such a stamp 
as to render it very immaterial to whom the praise, or dis- 
praise, of their authorship is attributable. 



I. (4.) THE VOTIVE CHAPLET. * p. 7. 

Curl, ye sweet flowers ! ye zephyrs softly breathe, 
Nor shake from Helen's door my votive wreath ! 
Bedew'd with grief, your blooming honours keep, 
(For those who love are ever known to weep,) 
And when, beneath, my lovely maid appears, 
Rain from your purple cups a lover's tears. 



II. (8.) THE DESPAIRING LOVER. c. m. 

My years are not quite two-and-twenty, 

And I would fain go die : 
Ye Loves, why doth it so content ye 

This cruel sport to ply ? 



ASCLEPIADES. 123 

Think, Loves, if mischief should beset me, 

Would it not grieve you then ? 
No — by my faith ! you 'd straight forget me, 

And to your dice again. 



III. (9.) LOVE AND WINE. * p. 81. 

Drink, Asclepiades ! Why stream thine eyes ? 
Art thou alone resistless Beauty's prize ? 
Hast thou alone sustain' d the piercing darts 
That sportive Love directs at human hearts ? 
Why buried thus alive ? The rosy ray 
Of morn fades swiftly — Drink thy cares away ! 
Wait we again the lamps of drowsy night ? 
With wine, with wine salute the dawning light ! 
A few short hours, and all our joys are o'er, 
We sleep in darkness, and shall quaff no more. 

IV. (13.) THE LOVER'S PRAYER. 

All that is left me of my soul, 
That little all, O Love ! release ; 

Release, kind Love, from thy controul. 
And let me be at peace ! 

Or, if in vain for ease I pray, 

Bid not thy shafts, but lightnings, fly ; 

That so I may consume away 
To ashes where I lie. 

Strike then, kind Love ! — nay, do not spare ! 

And if aught worse thou hast in store, 
I do not ask thee to forbear, 

But rather strike the more ! 
g2 



124 ASCLEPIADES. 

V. (18.) THE LOVER CHEATED. 

Witness, Night ! — I ask no more — 
What a fool Melissa made me, 

When to be her paramour 

First she lur'd and then betray'd me! 

Not uncall'd I sought her door, 

I, her chosen paramour. 

Witness, Night ! who saw me wait 
All your long and dreary hours, 

Sighing, shivering at her gate. 

Grant me this, ye amorous powers ! 

May she live herself to be 

Cheated as she cheated me ! 



VI. (20.) THE ENJOYMENT OF LOVE. * p. 16. m. 

Sweet is the goblet cool'd with winter snows 
To him who pants in summer's scorching heat ; 

And sweet to weary mariners repose 

From ocean's tempests in some green retreat : — 

But far more sweet than these, the conscious bower 

Where lovers meet at Love's delighted hour. 



VII. (21.) THE VIRGIN'S TRIUMPH. * p. 5. 

Still glorying in thy virgin flower ? 

Yet, in those gloomy shades below, 
No lovers will adorn thy bower : 

Youth's pleasures with the living glow. — 
Virgin, we shall be dust alone, 
On the sad shore of Acheron ! 



ASCLEPIADES. 125 

VIII. (24.) THE BRUNETTE. m. 

Young Didyme hath ravish' d me in my boyhood's flower, 
And, alas ! I melt like wax before her beauty's power. 
Say she be black — What then? The coals that on the hearth 

lie dead — 
Set them on fire — from black they soon will turn to rosy red. 



IX. (26.) THE POWER OF WINE. * p. 82. ] 

Snow on ! hail on ! cast darkness all around me ! 

Let loose thy thunders ! with thy lightnings wound me ! 

— I care not, Jove, but thy worst rage defy ; 

Nor will I cease to revel till I die. 

Spare but my life — and, let thy thunders roar 

And lightnings flash — I '11 only revel more. 

Thunderer ! a God more potent far than thee — 

To whom thou too hast yielded — maddens me. 



X. (32.) ON THE PICTURE OF BERENICE. 

This form is Cytherea's — Nay, 

'T is Berenice's, I protest. 
So like to both, you safely may 

Give it to either you like best. 



XI. (33.) ON CLEOPATRA'S AMETHYST. 

The face that sculptur'd here you see 
Is of the nymph Ebriety. 



126 ASCLEPIADES. 

The cunning artist, his design 
Imbedded in no kindred shrine 
— A pure and lucid amethyst — 
Yet think not so his aim he miss'd. 
— Pure to the pure are things divine- 
In Cleopatra's royal hands, 
Unconscious of the power of wine, 
Sober' d, the tipsy goddess stands. 



XII. (34.) ON HESIOD. haygarth. 

Sweet bard of Ascra ! on thy youthful head 
The Muses erst their laurel-branches spread, 
When on the rugged summits of the rocks 
They saw thee laid amidst thy sultry flocks. 
Ev'n then to thee, o'er fair Castalia's wave, 
Their sacred powers unbounded empire gave. 
By this inspir'd, thy genius soar'd on high, 
And rang'd the vaulted azure of the sky ; 
With joy transported, view'd the blest abodes, 
And sang th' extatic raptures of the gods. 



LEONIJDAS OF TARENTUM. 127 



LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM.f 

"E>v 8e Aewideu) QaXepovs khtgoTo Kopv[i(3ovs. — Meleager, i. 15. 

This poet is generally supposed to have been contemporary 
with Pyrrhus king of Epirus ; and it has been also con- 
jectured (probably from the Epitaph which he composed 
for himself, and which describes him as an exile from his 
native country,) that he was carried away captive, or at 
least as a hostage, by that celebrated leader, in the year 
B. C. 278. The Epigram from which this connexion has 
been chiefly inferred, and which purports to be an inscrip- 
tion on certain spoils of war obtained by Pyrrhus in his 
great victory over Antigonus and the Galatians, — is treated 
by Mr. Fynes Clinton as having been ascribed to him with- 
out sufficient evidence. The whole number of Epigrams to 
which his name is prefixed exceeds a hundred ; but of these, 
six are shown to be doubtful. The first thirty-four are of the 
class of Dedicatory or Votive Inscriptions, the perpetually 
recurring sameness of which is very uninviting to the trans- 
lator. The subjects of the remainder are mostly descriptive, 
relating to statues, trees, animals, &c, or commemorative 
of divers accidents occurring in human life, particularly to 
those conversant in maritime affairs. Many are distinguish- 
ed by great tenderness and simplicity ; some attempt hu- 
mour, but all are remarkably free from exception on the 
ground of morality, in which respect the author is entitled 

f Jacobs, i. p. 153. Brunck, i. p. 220. 



128 LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 

to the high praise of being one of the most blameless 
writers in the Anthology. 



I. (1.) AN OFFERING TO THE MUSES. m. 

Melo and Satyra to the Muses these — 
The tuneful race of Antigenides — 
To the Pimpleian Muses, whom of late 
Duteous they serv'd, — these offerings dedicate. 
Melo, this flute, whose notes in silver chase 
Her swift lips follow'd — and this boxen case. 
And amorous Satyra, this vocal reed, 
Oft by her tuneful breath, with wanton heed, 
Waken' d to song, while Comus' revellers round 
Clapp'd loud their hands, responsive to the sound, 
From festive eve, until the first faint ray 
Broke through the portals of rejoicing day. 



II. (7.) THE MOTHER'S OFFERING TO RHEA. 

O holy Mother ! — on the peak 
Of Dindyma, and on those summits bleak 

That frown o'er Phrygia's scorched plain, 
Holding thy throne, — with fav'ring aspect deign 

To smile on Aristodice, 

Silene's virgin child, that she 
May grow in beauty, and her charms improve 
To fulness, and invite connubial love. 
For this thy porch she seeks with tributes rare, 
And o'er thine altars strews her votive hair. 



LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 129 

III. (17.) PAN TO HIS WORSHIPERS. m. 

" Go, rouse the deer with horn and hound, 
And chase him o'er the mountains free ; 
Or bid the hollow woods resound 
The triumphs of your archery. 

" Pan leads — and if you hail me right, 
As guardian of the sylvan reign, 
I '11 wing your arrows on their flight, 
And speed your coursers o'er the plain." 



IV. (19.) 

THE OFFERING OF THREE BROTHER-SPORTS- 
MEN. * p. 424. m. 

Three brothers dedicate, O Pan ! to thee 

Their nets, the various emblems of their toil ; — 
Pigres, who brings from realms of air his spoil ; 
Damis from woods ; and Clitor from the sea : 
So may the treasures of the deep be giv'n 
To this ; to those the fruits of earth and heav'n. 



V. (21.) 

THE OFFERING OF PYRRHUS TO MINERVA, m. 
Molossian Pyrrhus to the Itonian power 

These shields suspends, from fierce Galatians won. 
Thus, in their age, as in their youthful flower, 
The race of JEacus triumphant shone. 
g5 



130 LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 

VI. (29.) 

ON THE STATUES OF MERCURY AND HER- 
CULES PLACED AS BOUNDARY-STONES BY 
THE ROAD-SIDE. m. 

(mercury speaks.) 
"Wayfarers, who along this road your journey take, 
Whether amidst the fields a holiday to make, 
Or town-ward bending, to the fam'd Acropolis, — 
We, rival gods, who guard the city's boundaries, 
(I, who am Hermes hight, and th' other Hercules,) 
Bid weary mortals peace, good-will, and lasting bliss. 
But for ourselves, alas ! nor peace nor joy have we — 
At least, I say so — I — unlucky Mercury. 
If any swain bring pears or apples to our shrine, 
Ev'n though unripe they be, not one of them is mine : 
That glutton bolts them all. The same too with our grapes — 
Not one, or sweet or sour, his greedy maw escapes. 
— Community of goods I therefore can't abide : 
Let him who means me well, my portion set aside, 
And say — ' This, Hermes, is for thee — that for thy friend 
Alcides.' — Thus, at least, our strife may have an end." 



VII. (30.) 
OFFERING TO THE RURAL DEITIES. * p. 422. m. 
To Pan, the master of the woodland plain, 
To young Lyseus and the azure train 
Of nymphs that make the pastoral life their care, 
With offerings due old Bito forms his prayer. 
To Pan a playful kid, in wars untried, 
He vows, yet sporting by the mother's side ; 



LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 131 

And lays the creeping ivy on the vine, 
A grateful present to the God of Wine ; 
And to the gentler deities who guide 
Their winding streamlets o'er the mountain's side, 
Each varied bud from Autumn's shady bowers, 
Mix'd with the full-blown roses' purple flowers. 
Therefore, ye Nymphs, enrich my narrow field 
"With the full stores your bounteous fountains yield ; 
Pan, bid my luscious pails with milk o'erflow, 
And Bacchus, teach my mellow vines to glow. 



VIII. (35.) ANOTHER. m. 

Ye lowly huts ! thou sacred hill, 

Heart of the Nymphs ! pure gushing rill, 

That underneath the cold stone flowest ! 

Pine, that those clear streams o'ergrowest ! 

Thou, son of Maia, Mercury, 

Squar'd in cunning statuary ! 

And thou, O Pan, whose wand' ring flocks 

Frolic o'er the craggy rocks ! 

— Pleas' d, the rustic goblet take, 

Fill'd with wine, and th' oaten cake, 

Offer'd to your deities 

By a true iEacides. 

IX. (37.) ON A STATUE OF ANACREON. c. m. 
Come, see your old Anacreon, 
How, seated on his couch of stone, 
With silvery temples garlanded, 
He quaffs the rich wine rosy-red ; 



132 LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 

How, with flush' d cheek and swimming eye, 

In drunken fashion from his thigh 

He lets his robe unheeded steal, 

And drop and dangle o'er his heel. 

One sandal 's off; one scarce can hide 

The lean and shrivell'd foot inside. 

Old Anacreon — hark ! he sings 

Still of love to th' old harp strings ! 

Still, Bathylla, still, Megiste, 

How he coax'd ye, how he kiss'd ye ! 

Gentle Bacchus, watch and wait, 

You must watch and hold him straight ; 

Hold him up ; for if he fall, 

You lose your boldest Bacchanal ! 



X. (39.) 
INSCRIPTION ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER. 
* p. 355. b 

Not here, O thirsty traveller, stoop to drink ; 

The sun has warm'd and flocks disturb' d its brink ; 

But climb yon upland where the heifers play, 

Where that tall pine excludes the sultry day ; 

There will you list a bubbling rill that flows 

Down the smooth rock more cold thanThracian snows. 



LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 133 

XI. (41.) 
ON THE STATUE OF VENUS ANADYOMENE. m. 

From her mother's bosom flying, 
Glistening with the salt sea foam, 

Our Apelles, Venus spying, 
Bade his daring pencil roam 

O'er her beauties rapture -giving, 

Not to paint — but catch them living. 

'T is thus her fingers small she weaves 
In her long and dripping tresses ; 

'T is thus her full round bosom heaves, 
Like rich fruit that Autumn blesses ; 

While her goddess-rivals say — 
" Mighty Jove ! we yield the day." 



XII. (47.) MARS TO HIS VOTARIES. 

Away with spoils like these ! They are not mine ; 
Hateful to Mars, nor worthy of his shrine. 
Uncleft the helm, unstain'd with blood the shield, 
Tb' inglorious spear unbroken in the field. 
Reddening with shame I felt the hot drops flow 
In scorn for cowards from my blushing brow. 
These let some lover range, in wanton pride, 
Round nuptial halls and chambers of the bride. 
Hang in the temple of the god of fight 
Arms dropping gore : — for such his soul delight. 



134 LEONID AS OF TARENTUM. 



XIII. (48.) INSCRIPTION ON A BOAT. c. m. 

They say that I am small and frail, 

And cannot live in stormy seas : — 
It may be so ; yet every sail 

Makes shipwreck in the swelling breeze : 

Nor strength nor size can then hold fast, 
But Fortune's favour, Heaven's decree : — 

Let others trust in oar and mast, 
But may the gods take care of me ! 



XIV. (49.) ON HOMER. * p. 363. 

Dim grow the planets when the God of Day 
Rolls his swift chariot through the heav'nly way ; 
The Moon's immortal round, no longer bright, 
Shrinks in pale terror from the glorious light : — 
Thus all eclips'd by Homer's wondrous blaze, 
The crowd of poets hide their lessen'd rays. 



XV. (50.) 

ON THE STATUE OF VENUS AT SPARTA. 

Eurotas erst to Cypris said, 
11 Or clad in arms appear ; 
Or hence depart ! The city raves 
For buckler, sword, and spear." 



LEONJDAS OP TARENTUM. 135 

" Nay," faintly laughing, she replied, 
" Though I unarm' d remain, 
Yet Lacedaemon shall no less 
Be held my favour' d reign : 

" Ne'er yet was Cytherea seen 
Array'd in horrid mail ; 
And shameless they who Sparta's name 
Brand with so false a tale." 



XVI. (55.) HOME. * p. 111. 

Cling to thy home ! If there the meanest shed 
Yield thee a hearth and shelter for thy head, 
And some poor plot with vegetables stor'd 
Be all that Heaven allots thee for a board, 
Unsavoury bread, and herbs that scatter' d grow 
Wild on the river-brink or mountain-brow, — 
Yet e'en this cheerless mansion shall provide 
More heart's repose than all the world beside. 



XVII. (57.) 
THE RETURN OF SPRING TO SAILORS. * p. 352. 

Haste to the port ! the twittering swallow calls, 
Again return'd, the wint'ry breezes sleep ; 

The meadows laugh ; and warm the zeplryr falls 
On Ocean's breast, and calms the fearful deep. 



136 LEGNIDAS OP TARENTUM. 

Now spring your cables, loiterers ; spread your sails ; 

O'er the smooth surface of the waters roam ! 
So shall your vessel glide with friendly gales, 

And, fraught with foreign treasure, waft you home. 



THE SAME ENLARGED. 

With rapid prow the buoyant vessels glide, 
And cut the glassy surface of the tide, — 
The glassy surface, white with foam no more, 
But smoothly flowing to the level shore ; 
Or, settled in a deep and calm repose, 
Unruffled by the breeze that scarcely blows. 
For now the swallow's voice, heard faintly clear, 
Spring's gracious zephyr wafts along the air; 
Beneath the pent-house roof's embowering shade 
The amorous bird her clay-built nest hath laid, 
Securely guarded for her callow brood ; 
The cricket has his merry song renew'd, 
And early foliage burst through every grove, 
And roses open to the touch of love. 
Now set your anchors free ; spread every sail, 
And loose your cordage to the friendly gale ; 
Quit, quit the port, where the long winter's day 
Has pass'd inglorious, unimprov'd, away ! 
Now tempt afresh the fortune of the wave, 
Seek other shores, and new adventures brave ! 
So may the gods of trade reward your toil 
With every bounty, shower'd from every soil ; 
And guide your barks triumphant o'er the main, 
Laden with plenty, to their homes again. 



LEONIDAS OF TARENTUM. 137 

XVIII. (59.) DIOGENES TO CHARON. m. 

Sad minister of Hades, who alone 

With thy black boat canst pass o'er Acheron ! 

What though that fearful boat nigh sunken be 

With its full freight of souls, yet take in me, 

The Dog Diogenes — 'tis all I ask, 

Besides my comrade scrip and leathern flask, 

This tatter' d cloak, and mite to pay the ferry — 

All I possess'd on earth to make me merry ; 

And all I wish again in hell to find. 

I have left nothing in the world behind. 



XIX. (60.) ON A GRASSHOPPER, 

SEATED ON A SPEAR IN THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA. 

Not only on the tree-top do I sing, 
When summer heat expands my vocal wing, 
Sipping the dewy morning's virgin tear, 
Sweet, unbought bard, to weary trav'llers dear ; 
But now you may behold me resting here, 
Ev'n on the point of arm'd Minerva's spear ! 
Who love the Muses thus each other suit — 
Theirs is our voice — and theirs her maiden flute. 



XX. (63.) THE ROAD TO DEATH. 

With courage seek the kingdom of the dead ; 
The path before you lies : 
It is not hard to find, nor tread ; 
No rocks to climb, no lanes to thread . 



138 LEONID AS OF TARENTUM. 

But broad, and straight, and even still, 
And ever gently slopes downhill : 
You cannot miss it, though you shut your eyes. 



XXI. (69.) EPITAPH ON A RICH MAN. c. m. 

I am the tomb of Crethon : here you read 
His name ; himself is number'd with the dead ; 
Who once had wealth, not less than Gyges' gold ; 
Who once was rich in stable, stall, and fold ; 
Who once was blest above all living men — 
With lands, how narrow now ! so ample then ! 

XXII. (71.) 
AN EPITAPH, IN FORM OF DIALOGUE, m. 

Q. Who, and from whom art thou, that sleep'st beneath 

this Parian pile ? 
A. Prexo — my sire, Calliteles. Q. And whence? A. From 

Samos' isle. 
Q. By whom interr'd? A. Theocritus — the spouse my 

parents chose. 
Q. What brought thee to the grave ? A. Alas ! I died in 

childbed throes. 
Q. By years how burthen'd ? A. Twenty-two. Q. And 

childless all bereft ? 
A. Ah, no! one child — Calliteles — of three years old I left. 
Q. Long may he live, poor boy, and to an honour'd age 

attain ! 
A. Ev'n so for thee may Fate, kind stranger, every joy 

ordain ! 



LEONID AS OF TARENTUM. 139 

XXIII. (75.) EPITAPH ON A DRUNKEN MAN. cm. 

Stranger, the Syracusan Orthon prays 
You walk not forth drunk in the night ; but says 
That he by such misfortune was undone, 
And sleeps in death beneath a foreign stone. 



XXIV. (94.) 

ON A MARINER DEVOURED BY A WOLF. 

Antheus, escap'd the terrors of the flood, 
A wolf devour'd in Phthia's lonely wood : 
Ill-fated mariner ! condemn'd to find 
Dryads more curst than are the Nereids kind ! 



XXV. (97.) ON HIPPONAX. 

Pass gently by this tomb — lest, while he dozes, 
Ye wake the hornet that beneath reposes ; 
Whose sting, that would not his own parents spare, 
Who will may risk — and touch it those who dare ! 
Take heed then — for his words, like fiery darts, 
Have ev'n in Hell the power to pierce our hearts. 



XXVI. (98.) 
THE DYING SHEPHERD TO HIS COMPANIONS. 

HAYGARTH. 

List, all ye swains, whose thirsty flocks 
In silence wander o'er these rocks ; 



140 LEONID AS OF TARENTUM. 

And, oh ! let my sad spirit share 
Your constant love, your tender care. 
In parching summer's fervid heat 
May your young lambs a requiem bleat ; 
Whilst on the rock the shepherd swain 
In mournful murmurs swells his strain ! 
To my lone shade, in early spring, 
Ye pilgrims ! grateful offerings bring ; 
And o'er my solitary grave 
With reverence pour the milky wave : 
Then rifle every floweret's bloom 
To deck the turf that forms my tomb. 
For think not that, when life is fled, 
No hopes or fears can reach the dead — 
Ev'n then their shades your care approve, 
And own with gratitude your love. 



XXVII. (99.) 

EPITAPH BY A MOTHER ON HER SON. * p. 286. 

Unhappy child ! Unhappy I, who shed 
A mother's sorrows o'er thy funeral bed ! 
Thou 'rt gone in youth, Amyntas ; I, in age, 
Must wander through a lonely pilgrimage, 
And sigh for regions of unchanging night, 
And sicken at the day's repeated light. 
O guide me hence, sweet spirit, to the bourn 
Where in thy presence I shall cease to mourn. 



NICIAS. 141 

XXVIII. (100.) HIS OWN EPITAPH. * p. 300. m. 

Far from Tarentum's native soil I lie, 

Far from the dear land of my infancy. 

'Tis dreadful to resign this mortal breath, 

But in a stranger clime 'tis worse than death ! 

Call it not life, to pass a fever' d age 

In ceaseless wanderings o'er the world's wide stage. 

But me the Muse has ever lov'd, and giv'n 

Sweet joys to counterpoise the curse of Heav'n, 

Nor lets my memory decay, but long 

To distant times preserves my deathless song. 



NICIAS. f 

xkoepov re <rLcrvn(3pov 

~Sikiov Meleager, i. 19. 

Whether the emblem of Mint is here assigned to this 
poet on account of its actual value in medicine, or its fan- 
cied properties as an herb consecrated to Venus, and 
worthy of insertion in the nuptial garland, must be left to 
conjecture ; but there seems every reason for supposing 
that this was the same Nicias to whom, in his character 
both of friend and physician, Theocritus addresses his 
eleventh Idyll beginning (as Polwhele renders it), 

t Jacobs, i. p. 181. Brunck, i. p. 248. 



142 NICIAS. 

" Nicias ! how vain the labour, to remove 
By drugs or healing herbs the fire of Love !" 

and again, (Idyll 28. v. 7.) 

" — That Nicias, by the sweet-ton'd Graces blest, 
Their hallow'd offspring may with letter'd lore 
And friendly converse charm his welcome guest." 

If so, the passages in question would fix Miletus as the 
place of his nativity : and this fact, coupled with the infor- 
mation that there are nine Epigrams in the Anthology 
ascribed to him, of which the last (in ridicule of baldness,) 
Jacobs prefers — but why, we know not, — to transfer from 
him to a later Epigrammatist, named Nicarchus, constitutes 
all that we have to say on the^subject of this Author. 



(4.) ON THE TOMB OF AN INFANT, c. 

Stay, weary traveller, stay ! 

Beneath these boughs repose ! 
A step out of the way, 

My little fountain flows. 

And never quite forget 

The monumental urn, 
Which Simus here hath set 

His buried child to mourn. 



II. (7.) THE BEE. a. 

Many-colour'u, sunshine -loving, spring-betokening Bee ! 
Yellow Bee, so mad for love of early-blooming flowers ! 



DIOTIMUS. 143 

Till thy waxen cell be full, fair fall thy work and thee, 
Buzzing round the sweetly smelling garden-plots and 
bowers ! 



III. (8.) THE GRASSHOPPER. 

I shall never sing my pleasant ditty now, 
Folded round by long leaves on the bough, 

Under my shrilly-chirping wing : 
For a child's hand seiz'd me in a luckless hour, 
Sitting on the petals of a flower, 

Looking for no such evil thing. 



DIOTIMUS.f 



~2vv 8' cifia Kal y\v/cv /xrjXov cLtt' cticpe[i6vo)V Aiorifiov. 

Meleager, i. 27. 

There were several writers of this name — one, a rhetori- 
cian of Athens, whose name is mentioned among those 
delivered up as hostages by the Athenians to Antipater of 
Macedon, the successor of Alexander ; — the second, also a 
rhetorician, mentioned by Athenseus (lib. xiii. 603,) as au- 
thor of a poem entitled " Heraclea," of which a fragment 
consisting of three lines is preserved ; besides which Jacobs 
refers to Jonsius (Script. Hist. Phil. ii. 15. 4.) as having 
reckoned up a whole host of Diotimi — " plures Diotimos," 

f Jacobs, i. p. 183. Brunck, i. p. 250. 



144 DIOTIMUS. 

and among them Diotimus the Stoic, who was contempo- 
rary with Zeno. But, if the Diotimus of the Anthology be 
the same on whom Aratus wrote a couplet, hereafter to be 
noticed, then it appears that he must also be set down as 
identical with one who was a native of Adramyttus, and a 
grammarian, whose melancholy office of teaching dunces to 
read in the rural district of Mount Gargarus must have 
sadly contrasted with the elegance of his poetical talent, 
which is apparent in about a dozen Epigrams bearing his 



I. (1.) TO A DUENNA. 

Guardian of yon blushing fair ! 

Reverend matron ! tell me why 
You affect that churlish air, 

Snarling as I pass you by. 
I deserve not such rebuke : 
All I ask is, but to look. 

True, I on her steps attend — 
True, I cannot choose but gaze ; 

But I meant not to offend — 
Common are the public ways ; 

And I need not your rebuke, 

When I follow but to look. 

Are my eyes so much in fault 

That they cannot choose but see ? 

By the gods we 're homage taught — 
Homage is idolatry. 

Spare that undeserv'd rebuke ! 

Ev'n the gods permit to look. 



DIOTIMUS. 145 

II. (6.) 

EPITAPH ON TWO AGED PRIESTESSES, c. m. 

Two aged matrons, daughters of one sire, 

Lie in one tomb, — twin-buried and twin-born ; 

Clino, the priestess of the Graces' quire, 
Anaxo, unto Ceres' service sworn. 

Nine suns were wanting to our eightieth year : 
We died together — who would covet more ? 

We held our husbands and our children dear ; 
Nor death unkind, to which we sped before. 



III. (8.) EPITAPH ON A FLUTE-PLAYER, c. m. 

Man's hopes are spirits with fast-fleeting wings. 

See where in death our hopeful Lesbus lies ! 
Lesbus is dead, the favourite of kings ! 

Hail, light-wing'd Hopes, ye swiftest deities ! 
On his cold tomb we carve a voiceless flute ; 
For Pluto hears not, and the grave is mute. 



146 ARATUS. 



ARATUS.f 

"Acrrpiov r 'idpiv 'Aparov bjxov fSdXev ovpavofiaicevs 
Qoivitcos Keipas TrpioToyovovs eXucas. — Meleager, i. 49. 

The above lines sufficiently point out the writer of two 
short Epigrams bearing this name as the same with the ce- 
lebrated author of the "Phenomena;" and the emblem of 
the Palm-tree whose branches extend to Heaven is happily 
typical of his devotion to the sublime science of astronomy. 
"Among the works of Aratus," observes Mr. Clinton, (Fasti 
Hell. ii. 499.) " Suidas enumerates ewiypafi/jiara els $l\av 
tyjv dvyarepa 'AvmrdTpov yvvaiica de 'Avriyovov, quoted 
by Jacobs, torn. xiii. p. 856, without observation. But this 
is an error. Phila the wife of Antigonus was daughter of 
Seleucus and Stratonice. Phila the daughter of Antipater 
was wife of Demetrius and mother of Antigonus." We 
have only to add that he was a native of Soli in Cilicia, 
and that his residence at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, 
whose reign commenced B. C. 277, sufficiently marks his 
sera. Of his only two remaining Epigrams (those stated to 
have been ascribed to Phila are lost,) the first is an Epitaph 
of no sort of interest, — the second, which is a single cou- 
plet, alludes to the hard case of Diotimus, his brother bard, 
and is as follows. 



(2.) ON DIOTIMUS, 

A POET AND SCHOOLMASTER. M. 

I mourn for Diotimus, who sits among the rocks, 
Hammering all day their A,B, C, on Gargara's infant blocks. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 186. Brunck, i. p. 253. 



HEGESIPPUS. 147 

HEGESIPPUS.f 

Tyai 8' afi' 'Kyr](rnnrov hvercXeKe, [lawala fiorpvv. — Meleager,i.25. 
Of the poet here characterized by an emblem which his 
few remaining works do not at all justify, eight Epigrams 
survive, marked by a degree of simplicity which vouches, 
in the opinion of Jacobs, for a higher antiquity than Reiske 
has assigned them, in conjecturally ascribing them to one 
of the same name who was a writer of the middle comedy. 
But the truth seems to be that nothing can safely be predi- 
cated concerning the date of his compositions beyond the 
fact of their insertion in Meleager's Garland. 



I. (1.) 
ON A SPEAR DEDICATED TO HERCULES, c. m. 

Receive me, Hercules, the good lance which 
Archestratus in battle well has tried ; 

That, waxing old in laurel-shaded niche, 
The dance and song may echo by my side. 
— Then farewell hateful war and martial pride. 

II. (2.) ON A STATUE OF DIANA. c. m. 

This statue, at the meeting of three ways, 
A maiden, still beneath her father's roof, 

Agelocheia, doth to Dian raise ; 

Who, while her busy fingers plied the woof, 

Appear'd before her in a sudden blaze. 

f" Jacobs, i. p. 187. Brunck, i. p. 254. 
h2 



148 



EUPHORIOX 



III. (7.) THE RIGHT-HAND ROAD TO HADES, m. 

'T is by yon road, which from the funeral pyre 
Slopes to the right, that Hermes, it is said, 

Leads to the seat of Rhadamanthus dire 
The willing spirits of the virtuous dead. 

That right-hand path thy pensive ghost pursued, 
Lov'd Aristonous ! when it left behind 

Those not unmindful of the great and good, 
Eternal joys among the blest to find. 



EUPHORION.f 

Avxvida d' 'Ev(popi(i)vos. — Meleager, i. 23, 

The author here noticed under the gaudy emblem of the 
Piony, was a native of Chalcis, and a celebrated poet of the 
age and court of Antiochus the Great, B. C. 274-221. His 
works, which were very voluminous, are carefully enume- 
rated by Mr. Clinton (Fasti Hell. torn. ii. p. 511); but, 
with the exception of some inconsiderable fragments pre- 
served by Athenseus and others, nothing remains of him 
but two Epigrams, both which, for the sake as well of their 
intrinsic merit, as of the exalted reputation of the author, 
are here attempted. 



f Jacobs, i. p. 189. Brunck, i. p. 256. 



PHAENNUS. 149 

I. (1.) AN OFFERING TO APOLLO. m. 

The first bright honours of his youthful head, 
Phoebus ! to thee hath fair Eudoxus shed. 
Grant him, instead, his temples to adorn 
With greenest ivy on Acharnse born. 



II. (2.) ON A CORPSE WASHED ASHORE, m. 

Not rugged Trachis hides these whitening bones, 
Nor that black isle, whose name its colour shows ; 

But the wild beach, o'er which with ceaseless moans 
The vex'd Icarian wave eternal flows, 

Of Drepanus — ill-famed promontory — 

And there, instead of hospitable rites, 
The long grass sweeping tells his fate's sad story 

To rude tribes gather'd from the neighbouring heights. 



PHAENNUS.f 

Qaevvov 

TepfiivQov Meleager, i. 29. 

Of this author Jacobs fairly states, that besides the fact of 
his insertion in the Garland of Meleager, and that of the 
Anthology containing two Epigrams which bear his name, 
nothing whatever is known, or in any way discoverable. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 190. Brunck, L p. 257. 



150 PAMPH1LUS. 

I. (1.) ON LEONIDAS. c. m. 

Most brave Leonidas ! Thou wouldst not bear, 
After defeat, to Sparta to repair, 
But at Thermopylae didst nobly choose 
Still to maintain your country's ancient use. 



PAMPHILUS.f 



BXciHTrjv re TrXaraviGTOv aTreOpiae UctfjHp'ikov. — Meleager, i. 17. 
Jacobs mentions two authors of this name, — one, a gram- 
marian, the disciple of Aristarchus, — the other, a phi- 
losopher, and a native, according to some, of Amphipolis, 
according to others, of Sicyon. Of these, the first only is 
noticed by Mr. Clinton (Fasti Hell. p. 556), where he 
is set down as posterior to the Christian sera, and conse- 
quently not the Pamphilus inserted by Meleager in his 
Garland, under the emblem of the Plane-tree. 



I. (1.) TO THE SWALLOW. m. 

Why, all day long, Pandion's hapless child, 

Pour out thy sorrows in so sad a ditty ? 

Is 't for that sweet flower lost — oh tale of pity ! — 
By Tereus torn — the Thracian spoiler wild ? 

f Jacobs, i. p. 190. Brunck, i. p. 257. 



PANC RATES. 



151 



PANCRATES.f 

vypois 

'Svn'irXeKTOv Kapvrjs epveai ILaytcpareos. — Meleager, i. 17. 

Three Epigrams, which are all remaining to us of the 
author here figured under the emblem of a branch of the 
Walnut-tree, afford us no trace of the period at which he 
flourished. Brunck supposes him to be the same with a 
poet of that name whose Halieutics are extant in the first 
book of Athenaeus, and of whom a fragment is preserved in 
the seventh book of the same author ; but Burette (Mem. 
de l'Acad. des Inscr. torn. xix. p. 441,) disputes their iden- 
tity. 



I. (1.) OFFERING OF A PRIESTESS OF DIANA, m. 

Thy handmaid Clio, Artemis divine \ 

Her infant daughters offers at thy shrine. 

O holy queen, the offer' d tribute grace! 

And let two handmaids fill thy suppliant's place. 



II. (2.) THE BLACKSMITH'S OFFERING. c. m. 

These tongs and pincers, and this hammer stout, 

Polycrates in Vulcan's temple lays ; 
Toiling with which, he barr'd grim hunger out, 

Nor vainly strove his children's lot to raise. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 191. Brunck, i. p. 259. 



152 ANTAGORAS, 



ANTAGORAS.f 

' Avrayopov r ev<JTpo<pov oft/Act ftobs. — Meleager, i. 52. 

This poet, another of the literary ornaments of the court 
of Antigonus Gonatas, to whom Meleager assigns for em- 
blem a flower designated in the Lexicon as " the twisted 
ox-eyed daisy," is credited with only two Epigrams among 
those now remaining in the Anthology, unless we ascribe 
to him, on the authority of some MSS., that on the bridge 
of Xenocles, usually assigned to Simonides, of which see a 
translation, before, p. 70. He is said to have been a native 
of Rhodes, and was, as Pausanias informs as, a familiar 
friend of the accomplished sovereign at whose court he re- 
sided, and whose favour he shared in common with Aratus 
the author of the Phenomena. To him is ascribed a heroic 
poem under the title of the Thebais. 



I. (1.) ON TWO CYNIC PHILOSOPHERS. 

Here Polemo and pious Crates lie — 

So speaks this column to the passers by — 

In life unanimous, and join'd in death, 

Who taught pure wisdom with inspired breath: 

Whose acts, accordant with the truths severe 

Their lips pronounc'd, bespoke the soul sincere. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 191. Brunck, i. p. 260. 



PHiEDIMUS, 153 

II. (2.) CUPID'S GENEALOGY. cm. 

Whither shall we go to prove 

The genealogy of Love ? 

Shall we call him first created 

Of the gods from chaos dated, 

When Erebus and Night were mated ; 

And their glorious progeny 

Sprung from out the secret sea ? 

Or will Venus claim Love's birth ? 

Or the roving Winds, or Earth ? 

For his temper varieth so, 

And the gifts he doth bestow 

(Like his form, which changeth still, 

Taking either sex at will,) 

Are now so good, and now so bad, 

We know not whence his heart he had. 



PILEDIMUS.t 

"Ev <p\oyt fii%as 

^aidifiov Meleager, i. 51. 

Of this poet, here characterized by a punning allusion to 
his name, as '* the flame-coloured Iris," nothing is known 
but that he is mentioned by Stephanus as a citizen of 
Bisanthe, in Macedonia, and as a writer of elegies. There 
are four Epigrams in the Anthology ascribed to him. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 192. Brunck, i. p. 261. 
H5 



154 HERMODORUS. 

I. (1.) HEROIC LOVE. m. 

This bow that erst that earth-born Dragon slew, 

O mighty God of Day, restrain ! 
Not now those deadly shafts are due 

That stretch the woodland tyrants on the plain. 
Rather, O Phoebus ! bring thy nobler darts, 

With which thou piercest gentle hearts — 

Bid them Themistio's breast inspire 
With Love's bright flame, and Valour's holy fire : 

Pure Valour, firm Heroic Love ; 
Twin Deity, supreme o'er gods above ; 

United in the sacred cause 
Of his dear native land and freedom's laws. 

So let him win the glorious crown 
His fathers wore, bright meed of fair renown. 



HERMODORUS.f 



2vpir]V (JTa^vorpixo- 9r)KctTO vdpdov 

'YfivoOerav, 'Epfiov dwpov deido/xevov. — Meleager, i. 43. 

This author, to whom one only Epigram is ascribed 
among those remaining in the Anthology, must also be re- 
ferred to the constellation of poetical talent which adorned 
the court of Antigonus ; at least if the conjecture be well 



f Jacobs, i. p. 193. Brunck, i. p. 262. 



THEOCRITUS. ] 55 

founded which identifies him as the author of a fragment 
preserved in Stobseus under the name of Hermodotus. 
But this appears to be very uncertain. The couplet which 
assigns him the Syrian Spikenard, as an emblem of fra- 
grance, contains also another example of a pun, invited 
by his name. 



A COMPARISON. 



The Cnidian Venus is so passing fair, 

That he who stands beneath her queenly ken 
Shall say, " Her rule she rightfully doth bear 
O'er gods and mortal men." 

But whoso gazes on Minerva's face 

Full arm'd in the Cecropian citadel, 
Shall cry, " Let Venus give to Pallas place ; — 
The shepherd judg'd not well !" 



THEOCRITUS.f 



About twenty Epigrams of this poet — some of them above 
the ordinary standard of merit — remain to us, besides his 
Idyls : and it seems extremely difficult to find a reason 
why he, together with his rival Bucolists, Bion and Mo- 
schus, is excluded from any share in the honours of Me- 

t Jacobs, i. p. 194. Brunck, i. p. 376. 



156 THEOCRITUS. 

leager's Garland. On account of this exclusion, however, 
as well as because of the various translations already before 
the public of the entire works of these poets, nothing has 
at present been added to the translations published in the 
former edition, and which are now reprinted, except a very 
few specimens of the Epigrams, — the only portion of these 
works retained by Jacobs, — and except also a single Idyl 
of Moschus, rendered by the Rev. W. Shepherd of Liver- 
pool with a degree of felicity which generally characterizes 
his versions from the Greek, and which, had we been pre- 
viously aware of the existence of a small volume of poems 
published by him in the year 1829, would have superseded 
many of those contained in the present volume. The date 
assigned to Theocritus by Mr. Fynes Clinton is B. C. 272. 



(IdyU. XI.) THE CYCLOPS. * p. 25. m. 

For Love no potent medicine is known, 
No true physician but the Muse alone ; 
Lenient her balmy hand, and sweetly sure — 
But few are they for whom she works the cure. 
This truth my gentle Nicias holds divine, 
Favour'd alike by Peean and the Nine ; 
This truth, long since, within his rugged breast, 
Torn with fierce passion, Polypheme confest. 

'T was when advancing manhood first had shed 
The early pride of summer o'er his head, 
His Galatea on these plains he wooed ; 
Yet not, like other swains, the nymph pursued 



THEOCRITUS. 157 

With fragrant flowers, or fruits, or garlands fair, 
But with hot madness and abrupt despair : 
And while his bleating flocks neglected sought, 
Without a shepherd's care, their fold self-taught, 
He, wandering on the sea-beat shore all day, 
Sang of his hopeless love, and pin'd away. 
From morning's dawn he sang, till evening's close ; 
Fierce were the pangs that robb'd him of repose ; 
The mighty Queen of Love had barb'd the dart, 
And deeply fix'd it rankling in his heart. 
Then song assuag'd the tortures of his mind, 
While, on a rock's commanding height reclin'd, 
His eye wide stretching o'er the level main, 
Thus would he cheat the lingering hours of pain. 

" Fair Galatea, why a lover scorn ? 
Oh, whiter than the fleece on iEtna born ! 
Coy, wild, and playful as the mountain-roe, 
Bright as the cluster'd vine's meridian glow ! 
You come when sleep has seal'd my eye in night, 
Smile on my dreams, and rouse me to delight : 
I wake — your image flies unkind away, 
Or melts and fades before the coming day. 
I lov'd thee, maid, from that delicious hour, 
When with your mother first you sought my bower ; 
I was the guide that led you on your way, 
And show'd you where the fairest hyacinths lay. 
I lov'd thee then, and, since those days are o'er, 
Have never ceas'd to love thee and adore ! 
But you, fair virgin, care not for my pain — 
I know you care not, and my prayers are vain. 
*T is not this rugged front, this lowering brow, 
(For ever haggard, but more haggard now,) — 



158 THEOCRITUS. 

'T is not this single eye of scorching fire 
(More scorching with the pangs of hot desire,) 
Can win a female heart, or hope to move 
A virgin's young and tender breast to love. 
Yet, though so rude, a thousand sheep I feed, 
Bounteous in milk, and plenteous in their breed ; 
A still succeeding store my churns supply, 
For ever yielding, and yet never dry. 
Yet, rugged as I am, my breath can make 
The simple reed to softest music wake. 
None of my fellow swains can sing like me, 
Tuning my vocal pipe, sweet maid, to thee. 
How oft the listening hills have heard my song 
Ascending from the vale the whole night long ! 
O come, dear maid, to me ! and thou shalt hear 
The surgy billow roar, and feel no fear ; 
While safely guarded in my arms you lie, 
Safe in this cavern from the inclement sky ! 
Oh come to me ! the verdant laurels wave 
With lofty cedars o'er this quiet cave. 
There amorous ivy creeps, and intertwines 
With swelling clusters of the richest vines ; 
There crystal springs more cool than ^Etna's snow 
Gush from the hills and round my arbours flow : 
The limpid beverage from the fountain's brink 
(Worthy of gods) shall Galatea drink. 
— What if I seem uncouth ? this spreading wood, 
When winter strews the plain and binds the flood, 
Is all my own — and through the evil days 
Our cheerful hearth with constant fires shall blaze. 
Oh, had my mother given me but to glide 
With cutting fins beneath the billowy tide, 



THEOCRITUS. 159 

I then had sought thy coral cave, my fair, 

And brought the sweetest presents of the year ; 

The snowy lily from our summer's bowers. 

And poppy, nurs'd by autumn's dying hours ; 

Then might I kiss thy lovely hand, and sip 

(Oh daring thought ?) the honey of thy lip. 

—Then leave, fair nymph, those caverns where you play; 

And, having left, forget your homeward way ! 

Come, tend my sheep with me, or for me squeeze 

The hardening curd, and press the snow-white cheese. 

Where are thy senses, Polypheme, oh where ? 

She heeds not thy complaint, she mocks thy prayer. 

Go to thy sheep again ! 't were better bind 

These ruin'd wattels, and keep out the wind, 

Than thus pursue with unavailing pain 

A scornful daughter of th' unpitying main. 

Go to thy home, poor wretch ! In yonder grove 

Are many nymphs, and some may heed thy love. 

There are, (and those among the loveliest fair,) 

Who bid me tend their flocks, their revels share : 

I shunn'd their haunts and fled from them before ; 

But now grown wiser, I'll refuse no more. 

Oft have they laugh'd to see my passion burn ; 

They '11 laugh no longer when I home return : 

Then, haughty Galatea, shalt thou prove 

That thou hast scorn'd what gentler virgins love ! " 

— Thus sang the uncouth swain where ./Etna's brow 
Hangs awful, frowning o'er the deep below: 
Thus would he feed his love, and with the strain 
He calm'd his troubled heart and eas'd his pain. 



160 THEOCRITUS. 



EPIGRAMS. 



I. (3.) TO DAPHNIS SLEEPING. polwhele. 

While, Daphnis, on the leaf-strown ground you steep 

Your weary body in the dews of sleep, 

And on the green hill-top your snares are laid, — 

With Pan, who hunts where erst your footsteps stray'd, 

The rude Priapus hastens to your cave. 

See on his brows the saffron ivy wave ! 

— But fly them, though the sultry noon-day glows — 

Fly the wild revellers, and forgo repose ! 



II. (4.) A VOW TO PRIAPUS. eltox. 

Oh Goatherd ! wind adown that village road, 

Where oaks are growing. Thou wilt find beyond 

A new-carv'd fig-tree image. Though three-legg'd, 

Bark'd with rough rind, and ear-less, know, the God, 

Genial Priapus, speaks the soft designs 

Of Venus. He is circled, where he stands, 

With a fair chapel ; and a running brook, 

As clear it sparkles from the rock, looks green 

With myrtles, bays, and aromatic boughs 

Of cypress-trees ; and there a branchy vine 

Spreads broad its clusters. Blackbirds of the spring 

Re-echo shrill their varied whistling pipe ; 

And tawny nightingales, perch' d opposite, 

Strain their sweet throats, with soft, low-gurgled tone. 



THEOCRITUS. 161 

Sit, therefore, in that spot ; and pray the God, 

Gracious Priapus, that I might abhor 

The love for Daphne. Promise at my hand 

A goodly kid ; but, if he still deny, 

Three victims I devote in sacrifice ; 

A heifer, and a shagged goat and lamb 

Fed in the stall ; and may the God be kind ! 



III. (6.) THYRSIS HAS LOST HIS KID. c. m. 

What boots it, hapless Thyrsis, though your eyes 
Should waste in tears, your breast dissolve in sighs ? 
Lost is the kid — for ever lost above — 
Torn by the wolf's sharp fangs — the kid you love. 
Hark ! how the dogs upbraid thy fruitless moans ! 
— He left not ev'n the ashes of his bones. 



IV. (7.) 

ON THE STATUE OF ^ESCULAPIUS. polwhele, 

The son of Paeon to Miletus came 
To met his Nicias, of illustrious name : 
He, in deep reverence of his guest clivine, 
Deck'd with the daily sacrifice his shrine ; 
And of the God this cedar statue bought — 
A fmish'd work, by skill'd Eetion wrought. 
The sculptor, with a lavish sum repaid, 
Here all the wonders of his art display'd. 



162 THEOCRITUS. 

V. (8.) ON A FRIEND DROWNED AT SEA. 

Risk not your life upon the wintry sea; 
With all his care man's life must fragile be : 
My Cleonicus sped from Syria's shore 
To wealthy Thasus, and rich cargo bore ; — 
Ah ! passing rich : — but, as the Pleiad's light 
In ocean set, he with them sank to night. 



VI. (13.) EPITAPH ON EURYMEDON. m. 

Thou art dead, Eurymedon, 
And hast left thine infant son. 
Thou, cut off in manhood's bloom, 
Hast achiev'd a speaking tomb, 
And a glorious seat on high 
With the souls that never die. 
He shall live, a citizen, 
Worship' d by his fellow men, 
Who in him will glory take 
For his honour'd father's sake. 

VII. (15.) ON ANACREON. moore. 

Stranger, who near this statue chance to roam, 
Let it awhile your studious eyes engage ; 

And you may say, returning to your home, 

" I 've seen the image of the Teian sage — 
Best of the bards who grace the Muse's page." 

Then, if you add, " Youth lov'd him passing well," 

You tell them all he was, and aptly tell. 



ARTEMIDORUS. 163 

VIII. (20.) ON HIPPONAX, THE SATIRIST, m. 

Here lies Hipponax, to the Muses dear. 
Traveller ! if conscience sting, approach not near ! 
But if sincere of heart, and free from guile, 
Here boldly sit, and even sleep awhile. 



ARTEMIDORUS.f 

This poet, who is styled a grammarian, and supposed by 
Jacobs to be the same mentioned in Athenseus, (lib. iv. 
p. 182. ix. p. .387,) with the epithet Aristophaneus, is here 
introduced only on account of the following Epitaph on 
Theocritus, which has usually been ascribed to Theocritus 
himself, and printed as his in most editions. 



EPITAPH ON THEOCRITUS. polwhele. 
Theocritus my name — of Syracuse — 
I claim no kindred with the Chian Muse. 
Praxagoras' and Philinna's son, I scorn 
The foreign bays that others' brows adorn. 

f Jacobs, i. p. 194. Brunck, i. p. 263. 



164 BION. 



BION. 

Flourished B. C. 275. 



I. (Idyll. 2.) WINGED LOVE. * p. 31. 

Chasing his feather'd game within the grove 
Young Thyrsis saw th' averted form of Love 
Perch'd on a boxen bough ; withjoy he cries, 
' This giant-bird will prove a noble prize." 
His shafts he culls, applies them to his bow, 
And marks Love's frolic gambols to and fro ; 
But vain his skill — his shafts, that miss their aim, 
He spurns indignant, and with conscious shame 
Hastes to the seer who taught him first the way 
With certain aim to strike the winged prey. 
He told his tale, and bade him " look, and see 
The giant-bird still perch'd on yonder tree." 
The seer attentive shook his prescient head, 
And with a smile, — a parent's smile, — he said, 

" Forbear the chase — fly from this bird, my child, 
Away — the prey you seek is savage, wild : 
Blest wilt thou prove whilst he eludes thy snares, 
Outwings thy shafts, and no return prepares. 
To manhood grown, this bird, which now retires, 
And shuns thy aim, and thwarts thy fierce desires, 
Will haste unsought, and, 'spite of bow and dart, 
Play round thy head, and perch upon thy heart." 



BION. 165 

II. (Idyll. 11.) 
HYMN TO THE EVENING STAR. * p. 29. m. 

Mild star of Eve, whose tranquil beams 
Are grateful to the Queen of Love ! 

Fair planet, whose effulgence gleams 
More bright than all the host above ; 

And only to the moon's clear light 

Yields the first honours of the night ! 

All hail, thou soft, thou holy star, 

Thou glory of the midnight sky ! 
And when my steps are wandering far, 

Leading the shepherd-minstrelsy, 
Then, if the moon deny her ray, 
Oh guide me, Hesper, on my way ! 

No savage robber of the dark, 

No foul assassin claims thy aid, 
To guide his dagger to its mark, 

Or light him on his plund'ring trade ; 
My gentler errand is to prove 
The transports of requited love. 

III. (Idyll. 16.) 

THE LAMENT OF THE CYCLOPS. *p. 29. b. 

Yet will I go beside the sounding main, 

And to yon solitary crags complain ; 

Thence, onward wandering by the sounding shore, 

The scorn of Galatea's brow deplore. 

But oh, sweet Hope ! be present to my heart, 

Nor with my latest, feeblest age depart. 



166 BION. 



IV. (Idyll. 5.) 

THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE. * p. 188. 

If any virtue my rude songs can claim, 

Enough the Muse has given to build my fame ; 

But if condemn' d ingloriously to die, 

Why longer raise my mortal minstrelsy ? 

Had Jove or Fate to life two seasons lent, 

In toil and ease alternate to be spent, 

Then well one portion labour might employ 

In expectation of the following joy. 

But if one only age of life is due 

To man, and that so short and transient too, 

How long (ah miserable race !) in care 

And fruitless labour waste the vital air ? 

How long with idle toil to wealth aspire, 

And feed a never- satisfied desire ? 

How long forget that, mortal from our birth, 

Short is our troubled sojourn on the earth ? 



MOSCHUS. 167 



MOSCHUS. 

Flourished B. C. 154. He was of Syracuse. 



(Idyll. 1.) CUPID PROCLAIMED, shepherd. 

Oyez ! cried Love's all-powerful queen, 
If any man has lately seen 
My scape-grace, tell me where he is ; 
The sweet reward shall be a kiss : — 
If further blisses you would rifle, 
I shall not stand upon a trifle. 
The boy 's so notable, no doubt, 
Among a score you'll find him out. 
His skin glows like the fiery gleam ; 
His eyes flash like the lightning's beam ; 
His honied tongue distils with lies ; 
His heart is wrapp'd in dark disguise ; 
When passion rankles in his mind, 
To savage deeds the elf 's inclin'd ; 
And, under guise of harmless jest, 
He stings the unsuspecting breast. 
Innumerous curling tresses grace 
His impudent and rakish face. 



168 MOSCHUS. 

His hands are tiny, but their power 
Extends to Pluto's gloomy bower. 
The peevish urchin carries wings, 
With which from heart to heart he springs 
As little birds, in wanton play, 
Fly carelessly from spray to spray. 
A trinket-bow and shafts he wears, 
Which carry to the furthest stars. 
His golden quiver swings behind, 
With numerous fatal weapons lined, 
With which he deals sharp sorrows round, 
And dares his mother's heart to wound. 
His torch, with its portentous blaze, 
Consumes the very solar rays. 
If thou shalt catch this vagrant child, 
Ah, be not by his tears beguil'd ; 
Bind fast his trickful hands, nor heed 
Those smiles that secret treachery breed ; 
Drag him along, nor thoughtless stay 
To fondle with him by the way. 
Fly, — fly his kisses ; — they inflame 
With every poison thou canst name ; 
And if he cry, " My arms I yield," 
Try not those deadly arms to wield : 
Let prudence check this mad desire, — 
They 're pregnant with celestial fire. 



MOSCHUS. jgg 

II. (Idyll. 5.) THE CONTRAST. * p. 354. M< 
O'er the smooth main when scarce a zephyr blows 
To break the dark-blue ocean's deep repose, 
I seek the calmness of the breathing shore, ' 
Delighted with the fields and woods no more 
But when, white-foaming, heave the deeps on high 
Swells the black storm, and mingles sea with sky ' 
Trembling I fly the wild tempestuous strand, 
And seek the close recesses of the land 
JW are the sounds that murmur through the wood, 
While roaring storms upheave the dangerous flood; 
Inen if the winds more fiercely howl, they rouse 

But sweeter music in the pine's tall boughs. 
Hard is the life the weary fisher finds 

Who trusts his floating mansion to the winds • 

Whose daily food the fickle sea maintains, 

Unchanging labour and uncertain gains. 

Be mine soft sleep, beneath the spreading shade 

Of some broad leafy plane inglorious laid, 

Lull'd by a fountain's fall, that, murmuring near, 

Soothes, not alarms, the toil-worn wanderer's ear. 

III. (Idyll. 7.) 

ALPHEUS AND ARETHUSA. * p. 30 . 

From where his silver waters glide, 
Majestic, to the ocean-tide 

Through fair Olympia's plain, 
Still his dark course Alpheus keeps 
Beneath the mantle of the deeps, 

Nor mixes with the main. 



1J0 MOSCHUS. 

To grace his distant bride, he pours 
The sands of Pisa's sacred shores, 

And flowers that deck her grove ; 
Then, rising from th' unconscious brine, 
On Arethusa's breast divine 

Receives the meed of love. 

'Tis thus with soft bewitching skill 
The childish God deludes our will, 

And triumphs o'er our pride ; 
The mighty river owns his force, 
Bends to the sway his winding course, 

And dives beneath the tide. 



EPIGRAM- 



CUPID TURNED PLOUGHMAN. * p. 34. prior. 

His lamp, his bow, and quiver laid aside, 
A rustic wallet o'er his shoulders tied, 
Sly Cupid, always on new mischiefs bent, 
To the rich field and furrow' d tillage went. 
Like any ploughman toil'd the little God ; 
His tune he whistled, and his wheat he sow'd : 
Then sat and laugh'd ; and, to the skies above 
Raising his eye, he thus insulted Jove : 
'■' Lay by your hail, your hurtful storms restrain, 
And, as I bid you, let it shine or rain : 
Else you again beneath my yoke shall bow, 
Feel the sharp goad, and draw the servile plough ; — 
What once Europa was, Nanette is now." 



NIC^ENETUS. 1/1 



NIOENETUS.f 

Sfivpvaiovs re kXclSovs Ni/ccu^erov. -—Meleager, i. 29. 

This poet was a native of Samos, as Schneider has under- 
taken to prove, — refuting the vulgar error which, following 
a false interpretation of the verse of Meleager above cited, 
assigned to him the city of Smyrna for a birth-place, where- 
as the epithet 2fj.vpva.iovs refers not to himself, but to the 
branch of Myrrh selected for his emblem. He is more 
than once cited in Athenseus, (lib. i. 673. xiii. 590. xv. 673.) 
and it is thence to be collected that he was prior in date to 
Phylarchus, who is known to have nourished under the 
Ptolemies, Euergetes and Philopator. 



I. (3.) THE FETE CHAMPETRE. 

Not in the city be my banquet spread, 
But in sweet meadows, where around my head 
The zephyr may float freely : be my seat 
The mossy platform of some green retreat, 
Where shrubs and creepers, starting at my side, 
May furnish cushion smooth and carpet wide. 
Let wine be serv'd us, and the warbling lyre 
Trill forth soft numbers of the Muses' choir. 



f Jacobs, i. p. 205. Brunck, i. p. 416. 
I 2 



172 NICiENETUS. 

That we, still drinking, and our hearts contenting, 
Still to the dulcet tunes new hymns inventing, 
May sing Jove's Bride, from whom those pleasures come, 
The guardian Goddess of our island home. 



II. (4.) THE PRECEPT OF CRATINUS. c. m. 

" Wine is the Pegasus whose wings 
The pleasant poet plies : 
But he that drinks pure element 
Is pleasant in no wise." 

Thus sang Cratinus, reeking with 

The perfume of the cask, 
When he had tried to his content 

The strength of every flask. 

And as he sate, his mansion walls 

Festoon'd from side to side, 
His temples ivy- garlanded 

With purple Bacchus vied. 



THE SAME TEXT, WITHOUT THE COMMENT. 

MOORE 

If with water you fill up your glasses, 
You '11 never write anything wise ; 

For Wine is the Horse of Parnassus, 
Which hurries a bard to the skies. 



ALEXANDER .ETOLUS. 173 



ALEXANDER ^ETOLUS.f 

'A\e£avdpoio veovs opTrrjKas e\air)S. — Meleager, i. 39. 

"Alexander, an iEtolian," says Suidas, (torn. i. p. 105.) 
" of the city of Pleuron, son of Satyrus and Stratoclea ; a 
grammarian. He also wrote tragedies, and was counted 
one of the seven tragic poets, who are known by the appel- 
lation of the Pleiad." Mr. Fynes Clinton (vol. ii. p. 503,) 
assigns to him the dates, B. C. 273, 269, and subjoins a 
list of his works, principally on the authority of Athenseus. 
Of these, the most considerable appear to have been two, 
— one entitled " Apollo," the other " The Muses " ; of 
both which some fragments are preserved, of sufficient im- 
portance to create a favourable impression of the author's 
merits, even independently of the high eulogies conferred 
on him by several writers of antiquity. His Epigrams are 
three in number. That now selected is remarkable, as ex- 
hibiting the opinion entertained in the time of Alexander 
on the disputed point of the birth and parentage of one 
who has been styled the Father of Erotic poetry. 



(3.) ON ALCMAN, THE LYRIC POET. 

Sardis, my ancient Father-land ! 

Hadst thou, by Fate's supreme command, 

f Jacobs, i. p. 207. Brunck, i. p. 418. 



174 CALLIMACHUS. 

My helpless childhood nourished, 
I must have begg'd my daily bread, 
Or else, a beardless priest become, 
Have toss'd Cybele's frantic drum. 
Now Alcman I am call'd, — a name 
Inscrib'd in Sparta's lists of Fame, — 
Whose many tripods record bear 
Of solemn wreaths and trophies rare 
Achiev'd in worship at the shrine 
Of th' Heliconian maids divine, 
By whose great aid I 'm mounted higher 
Than Gyges or his wealthy sire. 



CALLIMACHUS.f 

r)8v re [ivprov 

KaWifxdxov, crvipeXov fiecTTov del fxeXiros. — Meleager, i. 21. 

It may be difficult altogether to justify the having set apart 
so confined a space as is here assigned to a poet of such 
celebrity, to whom the distinguished emblem of the Myrtle 
has been ascribed in Meleager's poetical Garland, accompa- 
nied by the odd characteristic — " steeped in bitter honey," 
— which is conjectured by Martin to have been bestowed 
on him on account of a lost poem entitled " Ibis." Of 
the sixty-three Epigrams, however, comprised in Jacobs, a 

f Jacobs, i. p. 212. Brunck, i. p. 461. 



CALLIMACHUS. 1/5 

large proportion must, on account of the subjects, be either 
passed over by a translator, or else so altered in meaning 
as to bear no resemblance to the original. The Hymns and 
Fragments, together with most of the Epigrams here se- 
lected, and some others, have already found English trans- 
lators of established reputation. The date assigned to 
this poet by Clinton is B. C. 256 ; which must be re- 
garded as a late period in his career ; since he certainly 
nourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus, B. C. 288—247 ; 
and the meridian of his fame may probably be fixed at about 
B. C. 280, by his lost poem on the Lock of Berenice's Hair, 
which was afterwards, by some courtly astronomer, in- 
scribed in the list of constellations. 



I. (4.) THE DIVIDED SOUL. m. 

Half of my soul yet breathes : the rest, 

I know not whether 
Cupid or Hades have possest; 

'T is altogether 
Vanish'd. Among the Virgin train 

Perhaps 'tis straying — 
O ! send the wanderer home again, 

Or chide its staying ! 
Perhaps on fair Cephisa's breast 

'T is captive lying. 
Of old it sought that haven of rest, 

When almost dying. 



176 CALLIMACHUS. 

II. (11.) THE CHASE. 
Mark, Epicydes, how the hunter bears 
His honours in the chase — when timid hares 
And nobler stags he tracks through frost and snow, 
O'er mountains echoing to the vales below. 
Then, if some clown halloos — " Here, master, here 
Lies panting at your feet the stricken deer," — 
He takes no heed, but starts for newer game. 
Such is my love, and such his arrow's aim 
That follows still with speed the flying fair, 
But deems the yielding slave below his care. 



III. (15.) THE SERENADE. m. 

Such sleep, Conopion, on thine eyelids wait, 

As sits on his now shivering at thy gate ! 

Such sleep, thou false one, as thou bidst him prove, 

Who vainly sues thy stony breast to move ! 

Not ev'n a shade of pity thou 'It bestow : 

Others may weep to see me suffer so ; 

But thou — not ev'n a shade — O cruel fair ! 

Be this remember'd with thy first gray hair ! 

IV. (16.) ON BERENICE, DAUGHTER OF PHI- 
LADELPHUS. m. 

Four are the Graces. With the Three of old 
Be Berenice's heavenly form enroll' d, 
Breathing fresh odours. — They no more would be 
Graces themselves, without her company. 



CALLIMACHUS. 177 

V. (31.) 
THE OFFERING OF A NAUTILUS. * p. 424. m. 

Queen of the Zephyr's breezy cape ! to thee 
This polish'd shell, the treasure of the sea, 
Her earliest offspring, young Selena bears, 
Join'd with the incense of her maiden prayers. 
Ere while with motion, power and sense endued, 
Alive it floated on the parent flood ; 
When, if the gale more rudely breath'd, it gave 
Its natural sail expanded to the wave ; 
But while the billows slept upon the shore, 
And the tempestuous winds forgot to roar, 
Like some proud galley, floated on the tide, 
And busy feet the want of oars supplied. 
Shipwreck'd at last upon the Iulian strand, 
It now, Arsinoe, asks thy favouring hand ; — 
No more its vows the plaintive halcyon hail, 
For the soft breathings of a western gale ; 
But that, O mighty queen ! thy genial power 
On young Selena every gift may shower, 
That love with beauteous innocence can share : 
For these, and only these, accept the prayer ! 



VI. (47.) 
ON THE DEATH OF A FRIEND. * p. 288. 

I heard thy fate, old comrade, not unmov'd : 
A bitter tear my recollection prov'd, 
i5 



178 CALLIMACHUS. 

How oft conversing with my parted friend, 
I scarce have seen the summer sun descend : 
And thou, dear guest ! cold ashes art become, 
In an unknown, a last, eternal home ! 
Yet, like sad Philomel's, thy tuneful breath 
Survives, triumphant o'er the robber Death. 



ANOTHER VERSION OF THE SAME. c. m. 

They told me of thy death, my Heraclite, 

And much it griev'd me ; for it brought to mind 

Our free and frequent converse — noon to night ; — 
But thou art dust, far scatter' d by the wind. 

Yet shall thy songs, like birds in tuneful flight, 
Sail on, and leave the robber, Death, behind. 



ANOTHER. h. 

They told me, Heraclitus, thou wert dead ; 
And then I thought, and tears thereon did shed, 
How oft we two talk'd down the sun : but thou, 
Halicarnassian guest ! art ashes now. 
Yet live thy nightingales of song ; on those 
Forgetfulness her hand shall ne'er impose. 



VII. (49.) EPITAPH ON A GOOD MAN. *p.294. h. 

Beneath this tomb Acanthian Saon lies 
In holy sleep : — the Good Man never dies. 



CALLIMACHUS. 179 

VIII. (57.) 

ON A FRIEND DROWNED AT SEA. * p. 287. b. 

Oh ! had no venturous keel defied the deep, 
Then had not Lycid floated on the brine ! 

For him, the youth belov'd, we pass and weep, 
A name lamented, and an empty shrine. 



IX. (59.) ON A BROTHER AND SISTER, m. 

We buried him at dawn of day : 
Ere set of sun his sister lay, 

Self-slaughter'd, by his side. 
Poor Basile ! she could not bear 
Longer to breathe the vital air, 

When Melanippus died. 

Thus in one fatal hour was left, 
Of both a parent's hopes bereft, 

Their desolated sire ; 
While all Cyrene mourn'd to see 
The blossoms of her stateliest tree 

By one fell blight expire. 



X. (60.) 
LONGING AFTER IMMORTALITY." * p. 113. m. 
O sun, farewell !" — from the tall rampart's height, 
Cleombrotus exclaiming, plung'd to night ! 



180 CALLIMACHUS. 

Nor wasting care, nor fortune's adverse strife 
' Chill'd his young hopes with weariness of life 
But Plato's godlike page had fix'd his eye, 
And made him long for immortality. 



XI. (62.) EPITAPH ON HIS FATHER. 

Know thou, this tomb who passest by, 

At once both sire and son am I 

To a name most dear to us, 

Cyrenean Callimachus. 

One of his country was the shield 

In many a glorious battle-field ; 

The other sang so sweet a strain, 

That Envy listen' d with disdain, 

But strove to vanquish him in vain. 

For him on whom the Muses smil'd 

Ev'n at his birth — their favourite child — 

In age they never will forsake, 

But his gray hairs their temple make. 



XII. (63.) EPITAPH ON HIMSELF. 

Beside the tomb where Battus' son is laid, 
Thy heedless feet, O passenger ! have stray'd. 
Well skill' d in all the minstrel's lore was he, 
Yet had his hour for sport and jollity. 



MENECRATES. 181 

XIII. EPITAPH ON A DRINKER. * p. 459. m. 

" Thee, too, Lysander, doth the grave compel ! 

Which of thy various wines hath vanquish' d thee ? 

Doubtless the same by which the Centaur fell." 
" My hour was come ; and, friend, 't were quite as well 

To spare good wine so foul a calumny." 



MENECRATES.f 



'Poirjs avOr] 7rpu>ra Mevetcpareos. — Meleager, i. 28. 
The poet thus designated by the first blossoms of the 
Pomegranate, was a native of Smyrna, and may have been 
the same with a comic poet of that name blunderingly no- 
ticed by Vossius (DePoet. Graec. p. 227), and who is else- 
where called an Ephesian, — but of this there is no certainty. 
In Clinton (Fast. Hell. ii. p. 562), mention is made of Me- 
necrates of Elsea, a disciple of Xenocrates. Only two Epi- 
grams bearing that name are now extant in the Anthology. 



I. (1.) THE DISTRACTED MOTHER. 

Twice had the wretched mother to the tomb 
Borne the sad produce of her teeming womb ; 
A third in bitterness of soul she gave 
To feed the fierce insatiable grave : 

f Jacobs, i. p. 227. Brunck, i. p. 476. 



182 RHIANUS. 

But when a fourth time destin'd to sustain 
That heavy load of ill-requited pain, 
Then, madly desperate of a better fate, 
The greedy flames she dar'd anticipate, 
And to their rage her living fruit consign'd ; 
Saying — " No longer shall this bosom find 
Nurture for those whom Pluto claims his due. 
— If I must mourn, I will not labour too." 



II. (2.) ON OLD AGE. 
For age we pray, when at a distance seen ; 
But when arriv'd, we loathe its hideous mien. 
We spurn it ever, as a boon bestow' d, 
And prize it most when as a debt 't is ow'd. 



RHIANUS.f 

Edfi-^vxov afy' rjdv7rvoio 'Piavov. — Meleager, i. 11. 
" The Marjoram of the sweet-breathing Rhianus." 

" Rhianus was a native of Bena in the Isle of Crete. He 
was, originally, master of the Palaestra, or circus of gym- 
nastic exercises, but was afterwards distinguished as a 
poet and grammarian. He wrote a history of Messene in 

f Jacobs, i. p. 229. Brunck, i. p. 479. 



RHIANUS. 183 

verse, of which the accuracy is praised by Pausanias ; and 
composed similar historic poems on different Grecian states. 
Suetonius relates that Tiberius was particularly partial to 
the poems of Rhianus, and that he placed his bust in the 
public libraries, among those of the most eminent poets. 
There is dignity in his moral fragments ; but his Epigrams, 
although elegant, are tainted with the depravity of the 
times." 

Nothing needs be added to this short statement by Mr. 
Elton, from whom we take the further liberty of borrowing 
a single specimen of the author. His date is fixed at B. C. 
222, in the Fast. Hell. ii. p. 512, where a list of his works 
will be found. 



(6.) A LOVER'S WISH. elton. 

Dexionica, with a limed thread, 
Her snare beneath a verdant plane-tree spread, 
And caught a blackbird by the quivering wing : 
The struggling bird's shrill outcries piping ring. 

God of Love ! O Graces, blooming fair ! 

1 would that I a thrush, or blackbird, were ; 
So, in her grasp, to breathe my murmur'd cries, 
And shed a sweet tear from my silent eyes ! 



184 HEDYLUS. 



HEDYLUS.f 

'Ev 8e Uoveicnnrov re ical 'HcvXov — ay pi dpovptjs. — Meleager, i. 45. 

Hedylus was a native, it is said, of Sicily, and a pastoral 
poet, who lived in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 
B. C. 260. To the seven Epigrams of his composition 
contained in the Anthology of Planudes, Jacobs has added 
four, taken from the Deipnosophistae of Athenseus, all illus- 
trative of the noble science which it is the object of the 
" Almanac des Gourmands " to refine and consecrate. In 
one he invites his friends to hold pleasant and witty con- 
verse amidst their cups. Another is addressed to a certain 
Pasisocles, a strenuous wine-bibber and sweet composer of 
verses. In athird,he celebrates a fish dinner, performed with 
closed doors, for the purpose of excluding one Agis, who 
was such a Helluo of this species of luxury, that the rest of 
the party would have reason to fear a total monopoly of 
their viands if he had been admitted to partake of them, — 
a precaution which at the same time he seems to doubt 
might prove ineffectual, when he considers that Agis was 
capable of assuming as many forms as Proteus in order to 
accomplish his purpose, and would scarcely use more cere- 
mony in penetrating to their banquet-room for the attain- 
ment of such an object, than Jove did in breaking through 



f Jacobs, i. p. 233. Brunck, ii. p. 526. 



HEDYLUS. 185 

the tower of brass to gain possession of Danae. This is in 
the true style of Grecian hyperbole ; but the two here se- 
lected are in somewhat better taste. 



I. (1.) ANACREONTIC. 

Drink we ! — 'midst our flowing wine 
Something new, or something fine, 
Something witty, something gay, 
We shall ever find to say. 

Flasks of Chian hither bring, 
Sprinkling o'er me, whilst you sing, 
" Jovial poet, sport and play ! 
Sober souls throw life away." 



II. (6.) GOUT. * p. 437. m. 

Whilst on soft beds your pillow'd limbs recline, 
Dissolv'd by Bacchus and the Queen of Love, 

Remember, Gout 's a daughter of that line — 

And she '11 dissolve them soon, my friend — by Jove ! 



186 SAMIUS. 



SAMIUS.f 

^api'iov dd(j)vr]S kXujvcl fieXa^7rera\ov. — Meleager, i. 14. 

This poet, to whom the proud distinction of the Laurel is 
here assigned as an emblem, has only two Epigrams as- 
cribed to him in the Anthology ; both on one courtly theme, 
— a great hunting achievement by Philip King of Macedon 
(son of Demetrius), who, it seems, had the glory of killing 
a wild bull on the plain beneath Mount Orbelus in Thea - 
saly. However illustrious the subject, our readers will 
probably consider a single specimen sufficient. 



I. (1.) 

ON A WILD BULL SLAIN BY KING PHILIP. 

The mighty bull's capacious hide, 

And horns — the forest's stately pride — 

Are offer'd, Hercules, to thee, 

By a kingly votary ; 

Who with jav'lin fierce arrested 

The bellowing monster's mad career, 

Braving the fury of his spear, 



t Jacobs, i. p. 236. Brunck, i. p. 485. 



ALC^US OF MESSENE. 187 

Beneath Orbelus' heights, where long* 

In verdant pastures unmolested, 
He rang'd his subject herds among. 

O blest iEmathia, to obey 

A chief so fam'd for warlike sway ! 



ALCLEUS OF MESSENE.f 

Of this author, — whose name is not included in Meleager's 
Garland, unless we suppose that to him, instead of his 
much older namesake, is to be ascribed the emblem of the 
tale -bearing Hyacinth, 

XaXrjOpov ev v/xvottoXols vclkivOov, — 

the twenty-two remaining Epigrams furnish a very copious 
running commentary upon the life and actions. From them 
we learn that he was an ardent partizan of the Romans, 
who, under the command of Titus Flaminius, were at that 
time hailed as the liberators of Greece ; nor was he less 
ardent in his hostility to King Philip, whose defeat by the 
Roman general at the battle of Cynoscephalse gave occasion 
to the last of his Epigrams, which is the last also of those 
contained in the present selection, and demands a brief ex- 
planation. — The ^Etolians, who were then in alliance with 

f Jacobs, i. p. 237. Brunck, i. p. 486. 



188 ALC^US OF MESSENE. 

Rome, were, it seems, beyond measure elated with pride on 
account of the share which they claimed in the achieve- 
ment of the victory above alluded to ; and our poet, who 
had already reviled the Macedonian tyrant in more than 
one Epigram, made this the foundation of a new lampoon. 
Philip, stung to the quick, retorted the insult by giving 
utterance to the following parody, in which he pretty 
broadly insinuates the chastisement designed by him for 
the poet in case he should ever have the good fortune to 
catch him. 

" Unbark'd and leafless, passenger, you see, 
Fix'd in this mound, Alcseus' gallows-tree." 

(See Jacobs, vol. i. p. 243.) 



I. (7.) ON HOMER. haygarth. 

The visionary dream of life is o'er; 
The bard of heroes sleeps on Ios' shore. 
Fair Ios' sons their lamentations pay, 
And wake the funeral dirge or solemn lay. 
O'er his pale lifeless corse and drooping head 
Ambrosial sweets the weeping Nereids shed, 
And on the shore their slumbering poet laid 
Beneath the towering mountain's peaceful shade. 
Nor undeserv'd their care — his tuneful tongue 
Achilles' wrath and Thetis' sorrows sung ; 
His strains Laertes' son in triumph bore, 
Through woes unnumber'd, to his native shore. 
Blest isle of Ios ! on thy rocky steeps 
The Star of Song— the Grace of Graces— sleeps. 



ALCEUS OF MESSENE. 189 

II. (16.) 
ON THE EXPEDITION OF FLAMINIUS. m. 

Xerxes from Persia led his mighty host, 

And Titus, his, from fair Italia's coast. 

Both warr'd with Greece : but here the difference see — 

That brought a yoke — this gives her liberty. 



III. (18.) ON HIPPONAX. * p. 298. 

Thy tomb no purple clusters rise to grace, 
But thorns and briars choke the fearful place ; 
These herbs malign, and bitter fruits supply, 
Unwholesome juices to the passer-by ; 
And as, Hipponax, near thy tomb he goes, 
Shuddering he turns, and prays for thy repose. 



IV. (22.) ON THE MACEDONIANS SLAIN AT 
CYNOSCEPHALJE. m. 

Unmourn'd, unburied, passenger, we lie, 
Three myriad sons of fruitful Thessaly, 
In this wide field of monumental clay. 
iEtolian Mars had mark'd us for his prey ; 
Or he, who bursting from th' Ausonian fold, 
In Titus' form, the waves of battle roll'd ; 
And taught iEmathia's boastful lord to run 
So swift, that swiftest stags were by his speed outdone. 



190 EIOSCORIDES. 



DIOSCORIDES.f 

id' ev Movtraiaiv afieivov 

"Os Atos €K Kovpivv eiy^ev eTnovvpLav. — Meleager, i. 23. 

The author whose name is played upon in the above pun- 
ning distich, is supposed to be the same with the philoso- 
pher Dioscorides, (mentioned by Diogenes Laertius,) who 
flourished at Alexandria under Ptolemy Euergetes, about 
B. C. 230, and is not to be confounded with Dioscorides 
the physician, who lived in the time of Cleopatra. Of near 
forty Epigrams, some are of a character very unbecoming 
a philosopher, and others too trivial to be noticed ; but a 
few are of superior quality, although, even of these, the 
greater part are on subjects that have been better treated 
by others. 



I. (33.) SPARTAN VIRTUE. * p. 117. m. 

When Thrasybulus from th' embattled field 
Was breathless borne to Sparta on his shield, 
His honour' d corse disfigur'd still with gore 
From seven wide wounds, (but all receiv'd before,) 
Upon the pyre his hoary father laid, 
And to th' admiring crowd triumphant said, 

f Jacobs, i. p. 244. Brunck, i. p. 493. 



TYMNEUS. 191 



Let slaves lament — while I without a tear 
Lay mine and Sparta's son upon his bier." 



II. (36.) 
THE PERSIAN SLAVE TO HIS MASTER. 

master ! shroud my body, when I die, 
In decent cerements, from the vulgar eye. 
But burn me not upon your funeral pyre, 
Nor dare the gods and desecrate their fire : 

1 am a Persian ; 't were a Persian's shame 
To dip his body in the sacred flame. 

Nor o'er my worthless limbs your waters pour ; 
For streams and fountains Persia's sons adore ;— 
But give me to the clods which gave us birth, 
For dust should go to dust, and man to earth. 



TYMNEUS. f 

Tvfxvidj r ev-rreraXov XevKrjv. — Meleager, i. 19. 

Of this poet — the White Poplar of Meleager's Garland — 
nothing whatever is known ; nor do any of his six remain- 
ing Epigrams furnish materials for even conjecture. Reiske 
supposes him to have been contemporary with Meleager, 

f Jacobs, i. 256. Brunck, i. 505. 



192 TYMNEUS. 

and a native of Crete, only because the Cretan city of Eleu- 
thernae is named in the Epitaph on Philsenis as the place 
of her interment. But the name, Tymnes, or Tymneus, 
would seem, from Herodotus, vii. 98, to be of Carian 
origin. 



I. (4.) SPARTAN VIRTUE. * p. 118. m. 

Demetrius, when he basely fled the field, 
A Spartan born, his Spartan mother kill'd ; 
Then stretching forth the bloody sword, she cried, 
(Her teeth fierce gnashing with disdainful pride,) 
Fly, cursed offspring, to the shades below, 
Where proud Eurotas shall no longer flow 
For timid hinds like thee! — Fly, trembling slave, 
Abandon' d wretch, to Pluto's darkest cave I 
This womb so vile a monster never bore ; 
Disown'd by Sparta, thou 'rt my son no more." 



II. (5.) EPITAPH. * p. 291. 

Grieve not, Philsenis, though condemn'd to die 

Far from thy parent soil and native sky ; 

Though strangers' hands must raise thy funeral pile, 

And lay thy ashes in a foreign isle : 

To all on Death's last dreary journey bound 

The road is equal, and alike the ground. 



POLYSTRATUS. 193 



POLYSTRATUS.f 

Ev d' ap' d/xapaKov rJK€, UoXvarparov, avQos aoiSuJv. 

Meleager, i. 41. 

The herb sweet marjoram, here designated as " the Flower 
of Poets," (probably from the frequent use which was made 
of it for the purposes of anointment,) would, as the emblem 
selected for Polystratus, seem to indicate a high degree of 
eminence in the estimation of the collector ; but what re- 
mains to us of his writings is too inconsiderable to enable 
us to form any judgement how far the distinction was me- 
rited. Of the two Epigrams which survive, — one, which is 
here translated, serves, by its allusion, as a recent event, to 
the destruction of Corinth (01. clviii. B. C. 146), to fix the 
period at which he flourished. 



(2.) ON THE DESTRUCTION OF CORINTH, c. 

Achaean Acrocorinth, the bright star 

Of Hellas, with its narrow Isthmian bound, 
Lucius o'ercame ; in one enormous mound 

Piling the dead, conspicuous from afar. 

Thus, to the Greeks denying funeral fires, 
Have great ^Eneas' later progeny 
Perform'd high Jove's retributive decree, 

And well aveng'd the city of their sires. 

t Jacobs, ii. p. 1. Brunck, ii. p. 1. 
K 



194 PERSES, 



PERSES.f 

TLepaov r evwdr) c^ivov. — Meleager, i. 26. 

Of this poet, to whom Meleager has also assigned an 
odoriferous plant in his emblematic Garland, still less is 
known than of the preceding; since none of the eight 
Epigrams inscribed with his name afford any trace of the 
period at which he may be supposed to have nourished. 
The following has been selected by way of specimen, not 
only as the most considerable in length, but the most 
peculiar in subject, of his remaining compositions. Those 
who have seen that exquisite work of sculpture, the group 
executed by Chantrey for the monument of Miss Johnes of 
Hafod, will not fail to be struck by the resemblance which it 
bears, both in the subject and in the manner of treating it, 
to that here commemorated, — so close that, with the excep- 
tion of a single word in the original allusive to the immediate 
cause of the calamity, the entire Greek epigram might with 
propriety be inscribed on the tomb of the British sufferer. 



(4.) ON THE MONUMENT OF A DAUGHTER, m. 

Unblest Mnasylla ! — on this speaking tomb 
What means the type of emblematic gloom ? 

f Jacobs, ii. p. 3. Brunck, ii. p. 4. 



DAMAGETES. 195 

Thy lost Callirhoe we here survey 

Just as she moan'd her ebbing soul away, 

Just as the death-mists o'er her eyelids fell, 

In those maternal arms she lov'd so well. 

There, too, the speechless father sculptur'd stands, 

That cherish'd head supporting with his hands. 

Alas ! alas ! — thus grief is made to flow 

A ceaseless stream — eternity of woe. 



DAMAGETES.f 



'Ev d' apa Aa.[iayr}rov, tov jxekav. — Meleager, i. 21. 

The emblem of the deep -purple — literally the black — violet, 
here given to Damagetes, may be supposed to have been se- 
lected on account of the mournful nature of the subjects 
which he appears to have habitually chosen, and the tender 
melancholy which characterizes the method of his treat- 
ment. We have twelve of his Epigrams remaining, almost 
all of a like lugubrious character ; but the two here selected 
will probably be regarded as worthy to have been distin- 
guished from the rest by their peculiar merit. In another, 
which is of a more common character, " Arsinoe daughter of 
Ptolemy " is made to dedicate a lock of her hair to Diana ; 
which, if it refer to Arsinoe daughter of Ptolemy Euergetes, 



t Jacobs, ii. p. 39. Brunck, ii. p. 38. 
K 2 



196 



DAMAGETES. 



who married her brother Philopator, and became the mother 
of Ptolemy Epiphanes (B. C. 209), would fix him as having 
flourished about that period. 



(10.) EPITAPH ON TWO THEBAN BROTHERS 
SLAIN IN THRACE. m. 

By Jove, the God of strangers, we implore 
Thee, gentle pilgrim, to the iEolian shore 
(Our Theban home,) the tidings to convey, 
That here we lie, to Thracian wolves a prey. 
This to our father, old Charinus, tell ; 
And, with it, this, — We mourn not that we fell 
In early youth, of all our hopes bereft ; 
But that his darkening age is lonely left. 



II. (11.) ON A WIFE DYING IN HER HUSBAND'S 
ABSENCE. m. 

These the last words Theano, swift descending 
To the deep shades of night, was heard to say — 
" Alas ! and is it thus my life is ending, 

And thou, my husband, far o'er seas away ? 
Ah ! could I but that dear hand press with mine 
Once — once again ! — all else I 'd, pleas'd, resign. 



THEODORIDES. 19J 



THEODORIDES.f 

Tov re <pi\aicpr}TOv Qeodojpldeu) veoQaXrj 
"Ep7rv\\ov. Meleager, i. 53. 

From the emblem here assigned to this poet, that of wild 
Thyme, " that loves the unadulterated juice of the grape," 
it might be suspected that he was of the school of Ana- 
creon ; but there is nothing in any of the eighteen very 
ordinary Epigrams which remain with his name attached 
to them, either to bear out such a conjecture, or to lead to 
any satisfactory conclusion as to his age and country. 



I. (10.) EPITAPH ON AN USURER. 

Without the aid of crutch — entire of limb — 
Servant of Mercury ! to hell thou goest : 

Whose king will, pleas' d, receive thee, since to him 
Thou freely renderest all the debt thou owest. 



II. (18.) ON AN ANCIENT MONUMENT OF 
HERACLITUS. m. 

Rounded by age, and, like some pebble-stone 
O'er which the wild wave dashes, shapeless grown, 
No letters speak — no graven image tells — 
That here the dust of Heraclitus dwells. 
But still with Fame's loud trumpet I proclaim 
The barking Cur's imperishable name. 

f Jacobs, iij p. 42. Brunck, ii. p. 41. 



198 posidippus. 



POSIDIPPUS.f 

This author, whose name is coupled with that of Hedylus 
in a line already quoted from Meleager's Garland, appears 
to have been nearly contemporary with that collector, 
although nothing can be traced with any certainty as to 
his life or connexions. Of about twenty Epigrams remain- 
ing to us, the greater part are of an amatory complexion, 
and some possessing a degree of merit which might pos- 
sibly be judged sufficient to demand translation, but that 
they are little more than duplicates, both in subject and 
expression, of others to be found scattered in the Antholo- 
gy, some by later, and others by earlier authors. The well- 
known contrast presented by the two rival pictures of hu- 
man life inscribed with the names of this poet and his 
parodist Metrodorus, has been so often exhibited in differ- 
ent forms of translation, that another version might perhaps 
have been spared, had not the former edition of these Col- 
lections contained an attempt which, upon re -examination, 
was found so defective as to call for correction. The age 
of the laughing parodist was undoubtedly much posterior to 
that of the crying philosopher ; but it would be absurd to 
disjoin them upon a mere punctilio of chronological arrange- 
ment ; and whether our " Jean qui rit" is to be referred, 
with some authorities, to the age of Mithridates, or, with 
others, to that of Constantine, — so uncertain are we as to the 

f Jacobs, ii. p. 46. Brunck, ii. p. 46. 



posidippus. 199 

true date to be assigned to him, — does not at all matter 
with a view to placing him, on the present occasion, side 
by side with his elder brother. 



I. (16.) PICTURE OF HUMAN LIFE. * p. 105. m. 

What path of life would man desire to keep ? 

Wrangling and strife the forum yields : at home 
Are cares ; abroad, incessant toils : the deep 

Is vex'd with storms : an exile would' st thou roam ? 
If wealthy, fears ; if needy, slights await. 

Would' st seek to wed ? Expect not so to shun 
The general doom. Would' st choose a single state ? 

In joyless gloom thy heavy hours will run. 
Children are plagues ; a childless life 's accurst : » 

Folly 's in youth ; in age fresh infancy. 
Never to have been born, the wise man first 

Would wish ; and next, as soon as born, to die. 



PARODY OF THE PRECEDING, f 

BY METRODORUS. * p. 106. 

Whatever path of life you choose to tread, 
Praise and wise deeds the active forum yields ; 

At home is rest to crown your grateful bed, 
And all the charms of Nature deck the fields. 

f Jacobs, iii. p. 180. Brunck, ii. p. 476. 



200 posidippus. 

Bright hopes of fortune waft us o'er the deep ; 

And, should we chance in foreign climes to stray, 
If rich, we 're honour'd ; and, if poor, may keep 

Unmark'd the modest tenor of our way. 
If married, blest and honour'd is your state ; 

If single, still you 're blest, because you 're free ; 
The father joys ; no cares the childless wait ; 

In youth is strength, in grey hairs dignity. 
Then false the lay that bids men hate to live, 

Since every form of life can pleasure give. 



II. (19.) ON THE TOMB OF A SHIPWRECKED 
MARINER. a. f. m. 

Oh why, my brother mariners, so near the boist'rous wave 
Of ocean have ye hollow'd out my solitary grave ? 
'T were better that far hence a sailor's tomb should be, 
For I dread my rude destroyer — I dread the roaring sea. 
But may the smiles of fortune — may love and peace await 
All you who shed a tear for poor Nicetas' hapless fate ! 



ANTI PATER OF SIDON. 201 



ANTIPATER OF SIDON.f 

$oivt<T<rav re veav Kvftpov air' 'AvTiTrarpov. — Meleager, i. 42. 

The plant here designated as the young purple Cyprus, 
appears to be a species of Privet, known by the botanical 
name of Lausonia inermis, and selected as a fit emblem for 
this distinguished poet, rather perhaps on account of its 
being indigenous to the Phoenician soil, than by reason of 
any characteristic fitness in its nature or properties. 

With regard to the chronology of Antipater, it is fixed 
by a chain of circumstantial evidence with a very reason- 
able degree of precision. From this it appears that he was 
contemporary with Meleager, the first collector of the An- 
thology, by whom he was not only included in the poetical 
preface to his Collection, but also commemorated in an 
Epitaph, which further establishes the fact of Meleager 
having survived him. That he was certainly living as late 
as B. C. 127, and probably to a later period, is inferred from 
a passage in Cicero (de Oratore, iii. 50), where he is men- 
tioned as having been well known to Q. Catulus, the Con- 
sul, — an acquaintance which, it is proved, could not have 
taken place at any time earlier than the date above noticed. 
Hence also it seems to be satisfactorily established, that 
one of his Epigrams (the 99th in Jacobs's Collection), which 
commemorates the loss of a son sustained by one of the 
Ptolemies, kings of Egypt, has reference to Ptolemy Philo- 

f Jacobs, ii. p. 5. Brunck, ii. p. 6. 
K 5 



202 ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 

mater, who reigned from B. C. 164 to 146; and not (as 
Reiske has hastily conjectured,) to Ptolemy Epiphanes, in 
which case the Epigram must have been composed before 
B. C. 1 81, that is, full fifty-four years before the earliest pos- 
sible period that can be assigned to the date of his acquaint- 
ance with Catulus. (See Clinton, Fast. Hell. ii. p. 527.) 

Besides these particulars as to his history, we learn from 
the Epitaph of Meleager already alluded to, that he was 
descended from a wealthy and noble family in his native 
town, where it is probable that he himself enjoyed a sta- 
tion of considerable eminence. According to the report of 
Pliny (Hist. Nat. vii. 52), he lived to an advanced age ; 
and, in the passage of Cicero already referred to, we have 
the authority of that great critic as to his extraordinary 
facility in the art of pouring forth extempore verses, — a 
facility to which may perhaps be ascribed a flatness and 
insipidity, both in subject and expression, of most of the 
Epigrams to which his name is annexed, below the ordi- 
nary level of the Anthology, and unworthy the high repu- 
tation which he appears to have enjoyed. It may be added 
that the greater part, even of these, are mere rifaccimenti 
of earlier and better Epigrams by Leonidas and others; 
but it must also be noticed that, of nearly one hundred and 
twenty Epigrams printed under the head of the Sidonian 
Antipater, only forty- three have the distinguishing epithet 
Sidonius annexed to them in the early editions of the An- 
thology ; so that, of the remainder it is at least uncertain 
whether they belong to this poet, or to his namesake An- 
tipater of Thessalonica. 



ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 203 

I. (1.) WINE. * p. 80. b. 

The wizards, at my first nativity, 

Declar'd, with one accord, I soon should die : 

What if — o'er all impends that certain fate — 

I visit gloomy Minos soon or late ? 

Wine, like a racer, brings me there with ease ; 

The sober souls way walk it if they please. 



II. (7.) AGAINST WATER-DRINKERS, m. 

Bacchus found me yesterday, 

As at my full length stretch' d I lay, 

Sated with the crystal tide. 

The God stood frowning at my side, 

And said — " Such sleep upon thee waits 

As those attends whom Venus hates. 

Say, idiot ! didst thou never hear 

Of one Hippolytus ? — Beware ! 

His destiny may else be thine." 

He left me then — the God of Wine ; 

But ever since this thing befell, 

I 've loath' d the notion of a well. 



III. (8.) « UNDER THE ROSE. * p. 80." 
„ Not the planet that, sinking in ocean, 
Foretells future storms to our tars ; 
Not the sea when, in fearful commotion, 
Its billows swell high as the stars ; 



204 ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 

Not the thunder that rolls in October 
Is so hateful to each honest fellow, 

As he who remembers, when sober, 

The tales that were told him when mellow. 



IV. (9.) THE WIDOW'S OFFERING. * p. 426. ai. 

To Pallas, Lysistrata offer'd her thimble 
And distaff, of matronly prudence the symbol : 
" Take this too," she said; " then, farewell, mighty queen ! 
I 'm a widow, and just forty winters have seen ; 
So thy yoke I renounce, and henceforward decree 
To live with Love's goddess, and prove that I 'm free." 



V. (38.) 
ON A VINE EMBRACING A PLANE. * p. 111. 

See yonder blushing vine-tree grow, 
And clasp a dry and wither' d plane, 

And round its youthful tendrils throw, 
A shelter from the wind and rain. 

That sapless trunk in former time 

Gave covert from the noon-tide blaze, 

And taught the infant shoot to climb, 
That now the pious debt repays. 

Ev'n so, kind Powers ! a partner give 

To share in my prosperity ; 
Hang on my strength while yet I live, 

And do me honour when I die. 



ANTIPATER OF SIDON^. 205 



VI. (45.) ON HOMER'S BIRTH-PLACE. m. 

From Colophon some deem thee sprung ; 
From Smyrna some, and some from Chios : 
These noble Salamis have sung, 
While those proclaim thee born in Ios ; 
And others cry up Thessaly, 
The mother of the Lapithas. 

Thus each to Homer has assigned 

The birth-place just which suits his mind. 

But, if I read the volume right 
By Phoebus to his followers given, 
I 'd say, They 're all mistaken quite, 
And that his real country 's Heaven ; 
While for his mother — she can be 
No other can Calliope. 



VII. (47.) ON ERINNA. * p. 299. 

Few were thy notes, Erinna, short thy lay, — 
But thy short lay the Muse herself has giv'n ; 

Thus never shall thy memory decay, 

Nor night obscure thy fame, which lives in Heav'n 

While we, th' unnumber'd bards of after times, 
Sink in the melancholy grave unseen, 

Unhonour'd reach Avernus' fabled climes, 
And leave no record that we once have been. 



206 ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 

Sweet are the graceful swan's melodious lays, 
Though but an instant heard, and then they die ; 

But the long chattering of discordant jays 
The winds of April scatter through the sky. 



VIII. (48.) ON PINDAR. i 

As the loud trumpet to the goatherd's pipe, 

So sounds thy lyre, all other sounds surpassing ; 
Since round thy lips, in infant fulness ripe, 

Swarm'd honey'd bees, their golden stores amassing. 

Thine, Pindar ! be the palm — by him decreed 
Who holds on Maenalus his royal sitting ; 

Who for thy love forsook his simple reed, 

And hymns thy lays in strains a God befitting. 



IX. (50.) 

ON THE DESTRUCTION OF CORINTH. * p. 119. b. 

Wheke has thy grandeur, Corinth ! shrunk from sight, 
Thy ancient treasures, and thy rampart's height, 
Thy godlike fanes and palaces — where 
Thy mighty myriads and majestic fair ? 
Relentless war has pour'd around the wall, 
And hardly spar'd the traces of thy fall. 
We nymphs of Ocean deathless yet remain, 
And sad and silent sorrow near thy plain. 



ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 207 



X. (67.) ON ORPHEUS. * p. 297. 

No more, sweet Orpheus ! shalt thou lead along 
Oaks, rocks, and savage monsters with thy song, 
Fetter the winds, the struggling hailstorm chain, 
The snowy desert soothe, and sounding main ; 
For thou art dead ; — the Muses o'er thy bier, 
Sad as thy parent, pour the tuneful tear. 
Weep we a child ? Not ev'n the gods can save 
Their glorious offspring from the hated grave. 



XI. (70.) ON SAPPHO. 

Does Sappho, then, beneath thy bosom rest, 
iEolian earth ! — that mortal Muse, confest 
Inferior only to the choir above, 
That foster-child of Venus and of Love, 
Warm from whose lips divine Persuasion came 
To ravish Greece and raise the Lesbian name ? 
O ye ! who ever twine the threefold thread, 
Ye Fates, why number with the silent dead 
That mighty songstress, whose unrivall'd powers 
Weave for the Muse a crown of deathless flowers ? 



THE SAME. 

Thou mortal sister of th' immortal Nine, 

Whom Venus lov'd, and Venus' lovelier boy, 

While soft Persuasion made thy strains divine, 
With sweetest words, and tunes that never cloy, 



208 ANTIPATER OF SIDON. 

iEolia's pride, and Hellas' darling joy ! 
Sappho ! the Fates, that wanton as they choose, 

Weaving the triple skein in curst employ, 
For all thy fame, did length of years refuse ; 
Nor car'd for thine eternal present to the Muse. 

XII. (72.) ON ANACREON. * p. 297. 
Grow, clustering ivy, where Anacreon lies ; 
There may soft buds from purple meadows rise : 
Gush, milky springs, the poet's turf to lave, 
And, fragrant wine, flow joyous from his grave ! 
Thus charm' d, his bones shall press their narrow bed, 
If aught of pleasure ever reach the dead. 
In these delights he sooth'd his age above, 
His life devoting to the lyre and love. 

THE SAME, PARAPHRASED. moo 

Around the tomb, O Bard divine ! 

Where soft thy hallow'd brow reposes, 
Long may the deathless ivy twine, 

And Summer pour his waste of roses ! 

And many a fount shall there distil, 
And many a rill refresh the flowers ; 

But wine shall gush in every rill, 

And every fount yield milky showers. 

Thus — shade of him whom nature taught 
To tune his lyre and soul to pleasure — 

Who gave to love his warmest thought, 
Who gave to love his fondest measure — 



ANTIPATER OP SIDON. 209 

Thus — after death, if spirits feel, 

Thou may'st, from odours round thee streaming, 
A pulse of past enjoyment steal, 

And live again in blissful dreaming. 



XIII. (75.) ON THE SAME. moore. 

At length thy golden hours have wing'd their flight, 
And drowsy death thine eyelid steepeth ; 

Thy harp, that whisper'd through each lingering night, 
Now mutely in oblivion sleepeth. 

She, too, for whom that heart profusely shed 

The purest nectar of its numbers, 
She — the young spring of thy desires — has fled, 

And with her blest Anacreon slumbers. 

Farewell ! thou hadst a pulse for every dart 
That Love could scatter from his quiver ; 

And every woman found in thee a heart, 

Which thou, with all thy soul, didst give her ! 

XIV. (84.) EPITAPH ON A MOTHER AND 

DAUGHTER. * p. 292. b. 

Here sleeps a daughter by a mother's side ; 
Nor slow disease nor war our fates allied : 
When hostile banners over Corinth wav'd, 
Preferring death we left a land enslav'd ; 
Pierc'd by a mother's steel, in youth I bled, 
She nobly join'd me in my gory bed : — 
In vain ye forge your fetters for the brave, 
Who fly for sacred freedom to the grave. 



210 



MELEAGER. 

XV. (Paralip. 86. Jacobs, xiii. p. 670.) 
ON A POPLAR. * p. 357. 
This plant is sacred. Passenger, beware ! 
From every wound a mortal pang I bear. 
My tender limbs support a virgin rind, 
Not the rude bark that shields the forest kind ; 
And ev'n in these dark glens and pathless glades 
Their parent sun protects his poplar maids. 



MELEAGER.t 



Following the chronological order we have adopted, we 
now arrive at the period of the first known collector of an 
Anthology ; himself also a poet ; and, as a mere composer 
of Epigrams, very far superior to any of those inserted in 
his Garland, — so far, at least, as we are enabled to judge 
of them from those specimens which have escaped the ra- 
vages of time, and the yet more sweeping and indiscri- 
minate havoc of ignorance and bigotry ; — an author whose 
style, in a recent edition of his works, is characterized as 
" purely Grecian, well adapted to the nature of his sub- 
jects, bold in the composition of words, and capable of ex- 
citing the most tender, as well as the most vehement, affec- 

f Jacobs, i. p. 1. Brunck, i. p. 1. 



MELEAGER. 211 

tions ; so distinguished, at the same time, for acuteness of 
argument and playfulness of amorous fancy, that the poet 
may be said to have paid himself no unmerited compliment, 
when he boasts of having united Love with the Muses, and 
called in aid the Graces, to temper the severity of philo- 
sophy." 

His Epigrams, as first brought together by the industry 
of Brunck, reprinted by Jacobs, and placed by them at 
the head of all the poets comprised in their respective col- 
lections, are one hundred and twenty-nine in number ; to 
which the industry of the latter editor has added two from 
the Vatican MS., one of which seems to connect so aptly 
with another (the seventy-fifth in the printed series), as to 
be thought by Jacobs to have originally formed a part of it 
and only separated by accident, — a notion which has been 
adopted in one of the ensuing translations. 

It only remains to be noticed, that we are indebted to 
the industry and acuteness of Mr. Fynes Clinton (Fast. 
Hell. vol. ii. p. 542,) for enabling us to correct a palpable 
mistake of former editors, in having confounded the collector 
of the Anthology (who survived, as has been seen, his friend 
Antipater, and was certainly yet living in the short reign 
of the last Seleucus, B. C. 95 — 94,) with another Meleager, 
who was a native of Gadara, the companion of the Cynic 
Menippus, prior in date to B. C. 200 ; and to whom, there- 
fore, and not to the collector, those Epigrams relate (Nos. 
126 and 127,) which had been hitherto considered as com- 
posed by the later Meleager for epitaphs on himself. It 
results from this discovery, that we are in fact ignorant 
both of the country and parentage of Meleager the collector; 
but from his being of the same name, it seems not unrea- 



212 MELEAGER. 

sonable to suppose that he was the descendant — perhaps 
the grandson — of the Gadarene. (See before, Bland's Pre- 
face, and note on the passage.) 



I. (9.) THE COMPARISON. 

Take away from young Cupid his wings and his bow, 
And give him sweet Antipho's bonnet and feather : 

So like is your boy to the god, love, I vow 

You'd not know your child if you saw them together. 



II. (17.) THE SAME SUBJECT. 

Lesbia ! thy child is so divinely fair, 
That if beside him little Cupid stood 

Without his quiver, bow, or wings, I swear 
I should not know the mortal from the God. 



III. (19.) THE SAILOR'S RETURN. 

Help, help, my friends ! — just landed from the main- 
New to its toils, and glad to feel again 
The firm rebounding soil beneath my feet, 
Love marks his prey, and with enforcement sweet, 
Waving his torch before my dazzled eyes, 
Drags me to where my queen of beauty lies. 
Now on her steps I tread — and if in air 
My fancy roves, I view her picture there, 



MELEAGER. 213 

Stretch my fond arms to fold her, and delight 
With unsubstantial joys my ravish' d sprite. 
Ah ! vainly 'scap'd the fearful ocean's roar, 
To prove a fiercer hurricane on shore ! 



IV. (23.) THE GIFTS OF THE GRACES. 

The Graces smiling saw her opening charms, 
And clasp' d Aristo in their lovely arms. 
Hence her resistless beauty ; matchless sense ; 
The music of her voice ; the eloquence, 
That, ev'n in silence, flashes from her face ; 
All strikes the ravish'd heart — for all is grace: 
List to my vows, sweet maid ! or from my view 
Far, far away, remove! — in vain I sue ; 
For, as no space can check the bolts of Jove, 
No distance shields me from the shafts of Love. 



V. (28.) THE TYRANT LOVE. 

Aye — tread on my neck, tyrant Cupid ! I swear, 
Though so little, your weight is no trifle to bear : 
But I laugh at your darts tipp'd with flaming desire, 
Since my heart, burnt to ashes, is proof against fire. 

VI. (32.) PRAYER TO CUPID. 

Spare, Cupid ! spare me ! hear the suppliant Muse ! 

Avert thy bow — withdraw thy flaming dart ! 
Bid Heliodora listen, nor refuse 

To soothe the piercing anguish of my heart ! 



214 MELEAGER. 

But, if thou slay me, by that bow I swear — 
That bow, thou seem'st to bend on me alone — 

My dying accents shall my wrongs declare, 
And leave this apt memorial for my stone : — 

" Stranger, beware !" — thus from that drear abode 

The Muse shall speak — "Fly Cupid's murderous bow ! 
Nor vainly look for mercy from the God 

Whose ruthless hand hath laid his poet low !" 



VII. (33.) THE LIGHT OF LOVE. 

Gazing on thee, sweet maid ! all things I see — 
For thou art all the universe to me ; 
And, when thou 'rt absent, to my vacant sight, 
Though all things else be present, all is night. 



VIII. (42.) CUPID WOUNDED. k. 

Why weep'st thou, Cupid — thou who steal' st men's hearts, 
And with their hearts their reason ? — Tell me why 

Thou 'st flung away thy cruel bow and darts, 

And doff'd thy radiant wings. Has Lesbia's eye, 

Which beams on all, resistless, pierc'd thy breast ? 

— 'T is so — thy cause of sorrow stands confest ; 

And thou art doom'd to suffer in thy turn, 

And feel what torture 't is with love to burn. 



MELEAGER. 215 

IX. (47.) 

PAN'S LAMENTATION FOR DAPHNIS. m. 

Farewell, ye straying herds, ye crystal fountains, 

Ye solitary woods, and breezy mountains ! 

Goat-footed Pan will now no longer dwell 

In the rude fastness of his sylvan cell. 

What joy has he amidst the forests hoar, 

And mountain summits ? — Daphnis is no more. 

— No more ! no more ! — They all are lost to me ! 

The busy town must now my refuge be. 

The chase let others follow ! — I resign 

Whate'er of hope or rapture once was mine. 



THE SAME. 

Farewell, ye hills ! ye sylvan scenes, farewell, 

Which once my shaggy feet rejoic'd to tread ! 
No more with goats on mountain tops I'll dwell, 

Half-goat myself — no more the mazes thread 
Of forest thicket, or of bosky dell : 

Daphnis — lov'd partner of my sports — is dead ; 
And with him all the joy he knew so well 

To give my sylvan reign, for ever fled. 
Scenes once belov'd ! I quit ye ; to the chase 
Let others hie — the town shall be Pan's dwelling-place. 



X. (50.) CUPID'S PEDIGREE. 

No wonder Love, the ravisher of hearts, 

For slaughter raging, hurls fire -breathing darts ; 



216 MELEAGER. 

With bitter scorn envenoms every wound, 
And laughs at every death he scatters round : 
For Mars the homicide his mother vows 
A lawless flame, while Vulcan is her spouse. 
— Common to fire and sword — the daughter she 
Of the wild, boisterous, tempest- scourged sea : 
But who, or whence, his sire, can no man trace. 
No wonder then, since such is Cupid's race, 
His arrows Mars, hot Vulcan's forge supplied 
His fire ; — his fury, the remorseless tide. 



THE SAME. 

Ask' st thou why Love's eyes, ev'n in laughter, lower ? 

Or whence his savage thirst for flames and sword ? 
Was not fierce Mars his mother's paramour, 

And Vulcan, God of Fire, her wedded lord ? 

The boy 's his mother's son : his pedigree 
Explains too well his hate of human kind. 

Who gave that mother birth ? — the foaming sea, 
Whose surge rebellows to the lashing wind. 

Who was his sire ? — if e'er he had a sire 

Is doubtful ; — but for this the Muse will 'gage : 

Mars gave him blood- stain'd arrows, Vulcan fire, 
And Thetis fill'd him with her billowy rage. 

XL THE POWER OF LOVE. 
Mighty is Love — most mighty — once again 
I cry, most mighty ! writhing with my pain, 



MELEAGER. 217 

And deeply groaning, — who, for mischief born, 
Mocks at our woes, and laughs our wrongs to scorn. 
— The cold blue wave from which thy mother came, 
Proud boy ! should quench, not feed, that cruel flame. 



XII. (52.) THE CAPTIVE. 

Love ! by the Author of your race, 
Of all your sweetest joys the giver, 

I vow to burn before your face 

Your arrows, bow, and Scythian quiver ! 

Yes — though you point your saucy chin, 
And screw your nostrils like a satyr, 

And show your teeth, and pout, and grin, 
I '11 burn them, boy, for all your clatter. 

I '11 clip your wings, boy, though they be 
Heralds of joy ; your legs I '11 bind 

With brazen bolts : you sha' n't get free — 
Alas ! I have but caught the wind ! 

Oh ! what had I with Love to do, — 
A wolf among the sheep-folds roaming ! 

There — take your wings — put on your shoe, 
And tell your playmates you are coming. 



XIII. (53.) THE DIN OF LOVE. m. 

For ever in mine ear resound 
Love's wanton pinions, fluttering round ; 
While amorous wishes from mine eye 
Melt in sweet tear-drops silently. 



218 MELEAGER. 

It is not night — the level ray- 
Not yet proclaims the close of day ; 
Yet is one well-known form imprest, 
As by enchantment, on my breast. 

Ye winged boys, who know the art 
Too well to reach th' unguarded heart, 
Have ye no strength, ye flutterers, say, 
To spread your plumes, and fly away ? 



THE SAME. moore, 

'T is Love that murmurs in my breast, 
And makes me shed the secret tear ; 

Nor day nor night my heart has rest, 
For night and day his voice I hear. 

A wound within my heart I find, 

And, oh ! 't is plain where Love has been ; 

For still he leaves a wound behind, 
Such as within my heart is seen. 

O bird of Love ! with song so drear, 
Make not my soul the nest of pain ! 

Oh ! let the wing which brought thee here, 
In pity waft thee hence again ! 

XIV. (55.) THE TORTURES OF LOVE. m. 

Unquiet soul, for ever doom'd to weep ! 

What need the wound which Time had 'gan assuage 
Burst forth afresh from where it lay asleep, 

And with new fury in my bosom rage ? 



MELEAGER. 219 

Daringly thoughtless ! cease, oh cease to move 

The fire that slumbering in its ashes lay, 
Warm, but innocuous — cease ! that fire is Love. 

Ah ! too forgetful of thine evil day ! 
Let him but wake, he '11 claim thee for his right, 
And blows and tortures shall reward thy flight. 



XV. (56.) THE DEBATE. m. 

The die is cast! — Boy, light the torch — I go — Away, away, 

Untimely fears ! — Thou drunken fool, what art thou think- 
ing ? — stay ! 

— I go to mix with Comus' band. — With Comus' band ? — 
Beware ! 

— Intruding Reason, hence ! your counsels Love would 
gladly spare. 

Boy, light the torch — be quick ! Oh, where has godlike 
Reason fled ? 

And Wisdom, where ? — They prostrate lie among the 
mighty dead. 

But this I know — The same decree binds ev'n the gods 
above ; 

The strength of Jove himself has bent before all-conquer- 
ing Love. 



XVI. (57.) TO BACCHUS. 
Bacchus ! I yield me to thy sway ; 
Master of revels, lead the way ! 
Conqueror of India's burning plain, 
My heart obeys thy chariot rein. 
l2 



220 MELEAGER. 

In flames conceiv'd, thou sure wilt prove 
Indulgent to the fire of Love ; 
Nor count me rebel, if I own 
Allegiance to a double throne. 

Alas ! alas ! that power so high 
Should stoop to treacherous perfidy ! 
The mysteries of thy hallow' d shrine 
I ne'er profan'd — Why publish mine ? 



XVII. (61.) THE LOVER'S MESSAGE. m. 

Haste thee, Dorcas ! haste, and bear 
This message to thy lady fair ; 
And say besides — nay, pray begone — 
Tell, tell her all — run, Dorcas, run ! 

Whither so fast ? a moment stay ; 
Don't run with half your tale away ; 
I 've more to tell — Ah me ! I rave — 
I know not what I 'd do, or have. 

Go ! tell her all — whate'er you know, 
Whate'er you think — go, Dorcas, go ! 
But why a message send before, 
When we 're together at the door ? 



XVIII. (65.) VARIETY. 
Ringlets, that with clustering shade 
The snow-white brows of Demo braid 






MELEAGER. 221 

Sandals, that with strict embrace 
Heliodora's ancles grace ! 
Portal of Timarion's bower, 
Besprent with many a fragrant shower ! 
Lovely smiles, that lurking lie 
In Anticlea's sun-bright eye ! 
Roses, fresh in earliest bloom, 
That Dorothea's breast perfume ! 
— No more Love's golden quivers hold 
Their plum'd artillery, as of old ; 
But every sharp and winged dart 
Hath found a quiver in my heart. 



XIX. (71.) THE VOW. 

Is holy night we made the vow ; 

And the same lamp that long before 
Had seen our early passion grow 

Was witness to the faith we swore. 

Did I not swear to love her ever ? 

And have I ever dar'd to rove ? 
Did she not vow a rival never 

Should shake her faith, or steal her love ? 

Yet now she says those words were air, 
Those vows were written in the water ; 

And, by the lamp that heard her swear, 
Hath yielded to the first that sought her. 



222 MELEAGER. 



XX. (73.) LOVE, THE DICE-PLAYER. 

As Infant Love one morning lay 
Upon his mother's breast at play, 
He found my soul, that stood hard by, 
And, laughing, stak'd it on the die. 



XXI. (74.) TO THE MORNING STAR. m. 

Farewell, bright Phosphor, herald of the morn ! 
Yet soon, in Hesper's name again be born — 
By stealth restoring, with thy later ray, 
The charms thine early radiance drove away ! 



THE SAME. c. m. 

Thou latest of the host of Heav'n, 
Pale morning star ! that driv'st away 
My Phanion thus, at break of day ; 

Thou too art first to shine at ev'n : — 
O hither, then, at twilight gray 
Guide her with thy furtive ray ! 



XXII. (75.) THE KISS. 

Timarion's kiss like bird-lime clings 
About the happy lips it blesses ; 

Her eye its sun-like radiance flings 

Beneath her dark o'ershadowing tresses. 



MELEAGER. 223 

One look, fond lover, and you 're burn'd ; 

One touch, and all your strength is nought ; 
And Love himself this lesson learn' d, 

Late in her nets a captive caught. 



XXIII. (80.) THE LOVER'S ERRAND. * p. 1. 

Sea-wandering barks, that o'er the iEgean sail 
With pennants streaming to the northern gale, 
If in your course the Coan strand ye reach, 
And see my Phanion musing on the beach, 
With eye intent upon the placid sea, 
And constant heart that only beats for me, — 
Tell my sweet mistress, that for her I haste, 
To greet her, landing from the watery waste. 
Go, heralds of my soul ! to Phanion's ear 
On all your shrouds the tender accents bear ! 
So Jove shall calm with smiles the wave below, 
And bid for you his softest breezes blow. 



THE SAME. SHEPHERD. 

Ye gallant ships, that plough the briny wave 
Where beauteous Hella found a watery grave ! 
As near the Coan strand the northern gales 
With steady impulse fill your swelling sails, 
Should you behold, upon some dizzy steep, 
My Phanion gazing on the azure deep, — 
Tell the dear maid that, mindful of her charms, 
Her lover hastens to her longing arms. 



224 MELEAGER. 

So, while you scud along the dashing spray, 
May prosperous breezes speed you on your way ! 



XXIV. (87.) TO A GIRL PLAYING THE FLUTE. M . 

By Pan, Arcadia's God, I swear, 

Sweet are the notes thy fingers move ; 

Most sweet, Zenophila, the air 
Thou hymn'st — it speaks of love. 

How shall I fly ! On every side 

The wanton Cupids round me throng, 

Nor give me space to breathe, while tied 
A listener to thy song. 

Whether her beauty wakes desire, 
Her tuneful voice, her winning art — 

—What shaU I say ? All— all. The fire 
Is kindled in my heart. 



XXV. (88.) TO HIS MISTRESS SLEEPING. m 
Thou sleep'st, soft silken flower ! Would I were Sleep, 
For ever on those lids my watch to keep ! 
So should I have thee all mine own — nor he 
Who seals Jove's wakeful eyes my rival be. 



XXVI. (89.) THE GIFTS OF THE GRACES. 

The Sister- Graces for my fair 

A triple garland wove, 
When with each other they to make 

A perfect mistress strove. 



MELEAGER. 225 

A tint, to mock the rose's bloom ; 

A form, like young Desire ; 
A voice, whose melody out-breathes 

The sweetness of the lyre. 

Thrice-happy fair ! whom Venus arm'd 

With Joy's extatic power, 
Persuasion with soft Eloquence, 

And Love with Beauty's flower ! 



XXVII. (91.) LOVE PROCLAIMED. 

Love I proclaim — the vagrant child, 
Who, even now, at dawn of day, 
Stole from his bed, and flew away. 
He 's wont to weep, as though he smil'd ; 
For ever prattling, swift and daring ; 
Laughs with wide mouth and wrinkled nose ; 
Wing'd on the back, and always bearing 
A quiver rattling as he goes : 
Unknown the author of his birth — 
For Air, 'tis certain, ne'er begot 
The saucy boy : and as for Earth 
And Sea, both swear they own him not : 
To all, and everywhere, a foe. 
But you must look, and keep good watch, 
Lest he should still around him throw 
Fresh nets, unwary souls to catch. 
Stay ! — while I yet am speaking, lo ! 
There, there he sits, like one forbidden — 
And did you hope to 'scape me so, — 
In Lesbia's eyes, you truant, hidden ? 
l 5 



226 MELEAGER. 



THE SAME. 



Oyez ! Take notice, Love the runaway- 
Fled from his bed-chamber at break of day. 
The boy is an adept at wheedling, crying ; 
Talks much, is swift of foot, and giv'n to lying ; 
Audacious, cunning, and with malice fraught, 
He laughs at mischief his own wiles have wrought : 
With wings for flight equipp'd, and for attack 
With darts, he bears a quiver at his back. 
Who is his father I could ne'er discover — 
Earth, Sea, and Air, alike disown the rover. 
He 's everybody's foe — Ah maids, beware ! 
Youths, too, take heed ! for you he spreads his snare. 
But look ! — can I be wrong ? — No ; there I spy 
The truant archer, hid in Lesbia's eye. 



XXVIII. (92.) THE COMPARISON. * p. 12. m. 

Now are the vernal hours — 

The white-rob'd violet blooms, 
And hyacinth, glad with showers, 
The breathing air perfumes ; 
And, scatter'd o'er the mountain's side, 
The fragrant lily gleams in virgin pride. 

Now are the vernal hours — 

Zenophila the fair, 
The loveliest flower of flowers, 
The sweet beyond compare, 
Doth on her opening lips disclose 
Divine Persuasion's never-fading rose. 



MELEAGER. 22/ 

Meadows ! why do ye wreathe 

In smiles your sunny tresses ? 
Ye no such odours breathe, 

Though Spring your wardrobe dresses ; 
Ye no such glorious charms display, 
As she, the maiden that inspires my lay. 



THE SAME. SHEPHERD. 

The snowdrop peeps from every glade, 

The gay narcissus proudly glows, 
The lily decks the mountain shade, 

Where blooms my fair — a blushing rose. 

Ye meads ! why vainly thus display 
The buds that grace your vernal hour ? 

For see ye not my Zoe* stray 

Amidst your sweets, a sweeter flower ? 



XXIX. (94.) A KISS WITHIN THE CUP. * p. 23. 

Blest is the goblet — oh how blest ! 
Which Heliodora's lips have prest. 
Oh ! might those lips but meet with mine, 
My soul should melt away in thine. 



XXX. (95.) THE AUCTION. 

A prize to sell ! — a prize ! a prize ! 
You may take it as it lies 



228 MELEAGER. 

In its mother's arms asleep. 

'T is too fierce for me to keep. 

You may mark it by its grin — 

Wrinkled nose, and saucy chin — 

By the wings its shoulders shade — 

By its nails, for tickling made — 

By its laughing through its tears— 

And, for aught that else appears, 

Rude in manners, chattering ever, 

Keen-sighted, restless, yielding never, 

Or through love or piety — 

In short, an infant prodigy ! 

Let him be sold, then — Buy ! who '11 buy ? 

If any merchant should be nigh, 

Just come on shore, who wants a slave 

Of all-work, here a prize he '11 have. 

— But see, he weeps ! he trembling sues — 

Poor boy ! be bold ; I cannot choose 

But relent — So let it be ! 

Stay, and live with Rhodope. 



THE SAME. shepherd. 

Sell him ! whilst on his mother's breast 
He gently sinks in placid rest : 
Sell him ! — Why should I keep a child 
So bold, so graceless, and so wild ? 
How broad his nose ! how keen his eyes ! 
And now he laughs, and now he cries : 
With fluttering wings and active nails 
He every mortal wight assails : 



MELEAGER. 229 

The prattling rogue 's so bent on riot, 
His mother cannot keep him quiet. 
Sell him ! who '11 buy the infant slave, 
And bear him 'cross the wintry wave ? 
— But see ! he prays with flowing tears : — 
I will not sell thee — calm thy fears ! 
With me, dear boy ! thou still shalt stay, 
And with my lovely mistress play. 



XXXI. (97.) LOVE, THE TENNIS-PLAYER, elton. 
Love acts the tennis-player's part, 
And throws to thee my panting heart : 
Heliodora ! ere it fall, 
Let Desire catch swift the ball ; 
Let her in the ball- court move, 
Fellow in the game with Love : 
If thou throw me back again, 
I shall of foul play complain. 



XXXII. (98.) THE TOAST. 

Fill high the goblet ! fill it up ! 

With Lesbia's name divine, 
Thrice utter' d, crown the sparkling cup, 

And sweeten all the wine ! 

Tie round my brows the rosy wreath 

That yesterday ye wove, 
With flowers that yet of odours breathe, 

In memory of my Love ! 



230 MELEAGER. 

See how yon Rose in tears is drest, 
Her lovely form to see, 

No longer folded on my breast, 
As it was wont to be. 



XXXII. (105.) THE GARLAND. 

I 'll wreathe white violets — with the myrtle shade 
Bind soft narcissus — and amidst them braid 
The laughing lily ; with whose virgin hue 
Shall blend bright crocus, and the hyacinth blue. 
There many a rose shall, interwoven, shed 
Its blushing grace on Heliodora's head, 
And add fresh fragrance, amorously entwining 
Her cluster' d locks, with spicy ointments shining. 



XXXIII. (108.) TO THE BEE. 
"Wandering Bee, who lov'st to dwell 
In the vernal rose-bud's cell, 
Wherefore leave thy place of rest, 
To light on Heliodora's breast ? 

Is it thus you mean to show, 

When flies the shaft from Cupid's bow, 

What a sweet and bitter smart 

It leaves within the wounded heart ? 

Yes, thou friend to lovers, yes — 
I thy meaning well can guess — 
'T is a truth too soon we learn, 
— Go ! with thy lesson home return ! 



MELEAGER. 231 

XXXIII. (109.) 

EPITAPH ON HELIODORA. * p. 283. b. 

Tears o'er my Heliodora's grave I shed, 

Affection's fondest tribute to the dead. 

Oh flow, my bitter sorrows, o'er her shrine, 

Pledge of the love that bound her soul to mine ! 

Break, break my heart, o'ercharg'd with bursting woe, 

An empty offering to the shades below ! 

Ah, plant regretted ! Death's remorseless power 

With dust unfruitful chok'd thy full-blown flower. 

Take, Earth, the gentle inmate to thy breast, 

And, soft entomb'd, bid Heliodora rest ! 



THE SAME. 

Tears, Heliodora! on thy tomb I shed, 
Love's last libation to the shades below ; 

Tears, bitter tears, by fond remembrance fed, 
Are all that Fate now leaves me to bestow. 

Vain sorrows ! vain regrets ! — yet, loveliest ! thee, 
Thee still they follow in the silent urn, 

Retracing hours of social converse free, 
And soft endearments never to return. 

Now thou art torn, sweet flower that smil'd so fair ! 

Torn — and thy honour' d bloom with dust defil'd : 
Yet, holy Earth, accept my suppliant prayer, 

And in a mother's arms enfold thy child ! 



232 



MKLEAGER. 



XXXIV. (110.) SPRING. An Idyl. * p. 351. b. 
Hush'd is the howl of wintry breezes wild ; 
The purple hour of youthful Spring has smil'd : 
A livelier verdure clothes the teeming earth ; 
Buds press to life, rejoicing in their birth ; 
The laughing meadows drink the dews of night, 
And, fresh with opening roses, glad the sight : 
In song the joyous swains responsive vie ; 
Wild music floats, and mountain melody. 

Adventurous seamen spread th' embosom' d sail, 
O'er waves light-heaving to the western gale ; 
While village youths their brows with ivy twine, 
And hail with song the promise of the vine. 

In curious cells the bees digest their spoil, 
When vernal sunshine animates their toil ; 
And little birds with warblings sweet and clear 
Salute thee, Maio ! loveliest of the year : 
Thee, on their deeps, the tuneful Halcyons hail, 
In streams the swan, in woods the nightingale. 

If Earth rejoices, with new verdure gay, 
And shepherds pipe, and flocks exulting play, 
And sailors roam, and Bacchus leads his throng, 
And bees to toil, and birds awake to song, — 
Shall the glad bard be mute in tuneful spring, 
And, warm with love and joy, forget to sing ? 



THE SAME. shephekd. 

When wintry winds no longer sweep 
The surface of the troubled deep, 
See, smiling Spring, in vestment sheen, 
Arrays the earth in grateful green. 



MELEAGER. 233 

The budding plants their leaves renew ; 
The meadows drink the morning dew ; 
The flowers their thousand hues disclose ; 
Blooms on the spray the blushing rose ; 
Whilst every hill and valley gay 
Re-echoes to the rustic lay, 
And, swelling to the tepid gale, 
Bounds o'er the waves the whit'ning sail. 
The sturdy hinds, with ivy crown' d, 
To Bacchus dance in tipsy round ; 
The bees flit fast on active wing, 
As home the nectar'd juice they bring ; 
The birds confess the power of love, 
And warble in the leafy grove ; 
The halcyon floats on Ocean's breast ; 
The twittering swallow builds her nest ; 
The white -plum' d swan in graceful pride 
Stems the broad river's rapid tide ; 
Whilst nightly breezes still prolong 
The nightingale's mellifluous song. 

If then the earth — the groves rejoice 
To hear the swain's untutor'd voice, 
The seaman's whistle, and the glee 
Of rustic rout and revelry, 
Who shall forbid the bard to sing 
The praises of the flowery Spring ? 



XXXV. (111.) TO THE CICADA. m. 

Noisy insect ! drunken still 
With dew-drops like the stars in number,— 



234 MELEAGER. 

Voice of the desert, loud and shrill, 
That wakest Echo from her slumber, 
And, sitting on the bloomy spray, 
Carol' st at ease thy merry lay ; 

Dusky bard ! whose jagged feet 
Still on your hollow sides rebounding 

With frequent pause, and measur'd beat, 
Like minstrel notes are ever sounding ; 

Lov'd of the Muses, come ! essay 

The wood-nymphs with some newer lay ! 

— Such as Pan might please to hear, 
And, answering, tune his vocal reed ; 

And Love himself a while forbear 
His cruel sport to see me bleed ; 

Whilst I in noontide sleep am laid 

Secure beneath the plane-tree's shade. 

XXXVI. (113.) 
" MIX WATER WITH YOUR WINE." m. 
When infant Bacchus from encircling flame 
Leap'd into life, the Nymphs in pity came, 
Caught him amidst the ashes as he fell, 
And bath'd with water from their sacred well. 
Their union hence, — and whoso would decline 
To mix his bowl, may swallow fire for wine. 



THE SAME, PARAPHRASED. prior. 

Great Bacchus, born in Thunder and in Fire, 
By native heat asserts his dreadful sire : 



MELEAGER. 235 

Nourish' d near shady rills and cooling streams, 
He to the Nymphs avows his amorous flames : — 
To all the brethren at the Bell and Vine, 
The moral says, "Mix water with your wine." 



XXXVII. (116.) THE VICTIM. 

The suppliant Bull, to Jove's high altar led, 
Bellows a prayer for his devoted head. 
Spare him, Saturnius ! — His the form you wore 
When fair Europa through the waves you bore. 



XXXVIII. (119.) 

THE DAUGHTERS OF LYCAMBES. 

By Pluto's hand we swear — an awful sign — 
And the dark bed of gloomy Proserpine, 
Pure went we to our graves, whate'er of shame 
And vile reproach against our virgin fame 
That bitter bard pour'd forth, in strains refin'd 
Cloaking the foulness of his slanderous mind. 
Muses, in our despite why favour thus 
The false Iambics of Archilochus ? 



XXXIX. (121.) 
EPITAPH ON JESIGENES. * p. 294. 
Hail, universal Mother ! lightly rest 

On that dead form, 
Which, when with life invested, ne'er oppress'd 
Its fellow- worm. 



236 MELEAGER. 

XL. (124.) EPITAPH ON CHARIXENUS. m. 

Thee, poor Charixenus ! in youth's first bloom, 
Thy mother's hands — an offering to the tomb — 
Deck'd with the martial stole. The very stone 
Made to thy moaning friends responsive moan, 
As with the houseless corpse they sorrowing went 
— No hymeneal strain, but loud lament. 
" Ah me ! that gentle bosom's bounteous store, 
How ill repaid ! — how vain the pangs she bore !" 
O Fate unfruitful ! Maid of ruthless mind ! 
That giv'st a mother's yearnings to the wind ! 
Here, friends can only wish, and parents weep, 
And pitying strangers sanctify thy sleep. 

XLI. (125.) 
EPITAPH ON A YOUNG BRIDE. * p. 283. m. 

Clejera, when she loos'd her virgin zone, 

Found in the nuptial bed an early grave : 
Death claim'd the bridegroom's right ; to Death alone 

The treasure guarded for her spouse she gave. 

To sweetest sounds the happy evening fled, 
The flute's soft strain and hymeneal choir ; 

At morn sad howlings echo round the bed, 
And the glad hymns on quivering lips expire. 

The very torches that at fall of night 

Shed their bright radiance o'er the bridal room, 

Those very torches with the morning's light 
Conduct the victim to her silent tomb. 






MELEAGER. 237 

XLII. (127.) 

EPITAPH ON MELEAGER OF GADARA. m. 

Tyre was my Island-nurse — an Attic race 

I boast, though Gadara my native place, — 

Herself an Athens. Eucrates I claim 

For sire, and Meleager is my name. 

From childhood, in the Muse was all my pride : 

I sang ; and with Menippus, side by side, 

Urg'd my poetic chariot to the goal. 

And why not Syrian ? — to the free-born soul 

Our country is, The World ; and all on earth 

One universal chaos brought to birth. 

Now old, and heedful of th' approaching doom, 

These lines, in memory of my parted bloom, 

I on my picture trace, as on my tomb. 



[ 238 ] 
EPIGRAMS OMITTED. 



[The two following were omitted to be inserted in the 
proper places.] 

HEGESIPPUS.f 

IV. (6.) ON A SHIPWRECKED PERSON, h. 

Perish the hour — that dark and starless hour — 
Perish the roaring main's tempestuous power — 
That whelm'd the ship where lov'd Abdera's son 
Pray'd to unheeding Heaven, and was undone ! 
Yes — all were wreck'd ; and, by the stormy wave 
To rough Seriphos borne, he found a grave, — 
Found, from kind stranger hands, funereal fires, 
Yet reach'd, inurn'd, the country of his sires. 



ANTIPATER OF SIDON4 

XVI. (94.) THE CURE FOR MISERY. 

One fleecy ewe, one heifer, were the store 
That drove dire Want from Aristides' door. 
He lost them both : his teeming heifer died ; 
His single ewe the ravening wolf descried, 
And bore away : thus all he had was gone. 
Retiring to his silent hut alone, 
The belt that bound his empty scrip he takes, 
Fastens the noose, and wretched life forsakes. 

f See before, p. 147. J See before, p. 201. 



[ 239 ] 



APPENDIX. 



EPIGRAMS BY UNCERTAIN AUTHORS.f 

[The Epigrams here selected from among the 'A^eoTroVa 
printed at the end of Brunck's and Jacobs's Collections, are 
principally such as, from internal evidence, would seem to 
belong to the earlier and better ages of Grecian poetry, or, 
from their resemblance in subject to some of the preceding, 
appear to solicit insertion in the present portion of our 
work.] 



I. (58.) THE LOVER'S WISH. * p. 14. 
Oh, that I were some gentle air, 

That, when the heats of summer glow, 
And lay thy panting bosom bare, 

I might upon that bosom blow ! 

Oh, that I were yon blushing flower, 

Which even now thy hands have press'd, 

To live, though but for one short hour, 
Upon the Elysium of thy breast ! 

f Jacobs, iv. p. 118. Brunck, iii. p. 151. 



240 



EPIGRAMS BY 



II. (62.) 
LOVE NOT EXTINGUISHED BY AGE. * p. 4. m. 

Whether thy locks with jetty radiance shine, 
Or golden ringlets o'er thy shoulder stray, 

Still in those locks the Loves and Graces twine, 

And still shall twine there, though those locks be gray. 

III. (80.) ON LIFE AND DEATH. c. m. 

Whence was I born, and how ? 

How was I born, and why ? 
Alas ! I nothing know, 

But, born, that I must die. 
From nothing I was born, 
To nought must I return. 

The end and the beginning 

Of life is nothingness ; 
Of losing or of winning, 

Of pleasure or distress. 
Then give me wine at least, 
There 's nought for 't but to feast. 



IV. (81.) EXHORTATION TO PLEASURE, r. b. 

Drink, and rejoice ! who knows, tomorrow, 
Whether 't will bring us joy or sorrow ? 
Now, while you may, life's blessings share 
With the jovial and the fair : 
Shortly may thy nickering breath 
Be tainted by the blast of death. 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 241 

Such is life — a moment's space, 
And it leaves an empty place : 
Seize it, ere the silent tomb, 
Engulphing thee, gives others room. 

(177.) THE GARDENER'S OFFERING. * p. 423. b. 
To Pan, the guardian of my narrow soil, 
Who gave my fruits to grow, and bless' d my toil, 
Pure water and a votive fig I bear, 
A scant oblation from the teeming year. 
The fruit ambrosial in thy garden blush' d, 
And from thy rock the living water rush'd ; 
Receive the tribute from my niggard urn, 
Nor with thy bounty weigh my poor return. 



VI. (247.) 

My naked charms ! The Prince of Troy — 
The Dardan swain — the hunter boy — 
To those, and only those, I 've shown them — 
How should Praxiteles have known them ? 



VII. (249.) 
ON THE STATUE OF VENUS ARMED. * p. 373. m. 
Pallas met Beauty's Queen array'd in arms, — 

And ask'd — " Dost thou too venture to the field ?" 
Smiling she answer' d — " If my naked charms 

Such victories gain, what will my spear and shield ?" 



242 EPIGRAMS BY 

VIII. (214.) ON A STATUE OF NIOBE. * p. 371. b. 
This female, so the poets sing, 

Was chang'd to stone by Dian's curse. 
The sculptor did a better thing — 

He did exactly the reverse. 



IX. (325.) INSCRIPTION ON A BATH. * p. 359. 
Or from this fount, a joyous birth, 
The Queen of Beauty rose to earth ; 
Or heavenly Venus, bathing, gave 
Her own quintessence to the wave. 



X. (381.) THE OLIVE TO THE VINE. * p. 356, m. 
I am Minerva's sacred plant, 

Press me no more, intruding vine ! 
Unwreathe your wanton arms ! Avaunt ! 

A modest maiden loves not wine. 

XI. (241.) 
ON A SHE-GOAT SUCKLING A WOLF. * p. 367. b. 
A wolf, reluctant, with my milk I feed, 

Obedient to a cruel master's will ; 
By him I nourish'd soon condemn'd to bleed, 
For stubborn Nature will be Nature still. 



XII. (409.) " BIS DAT QUI CITO." h. 

Swift favours charm ; but when too long they stay, 
They lose the name of kindness by delay. 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 243 

XIII. (435.) ON A POOR MAN BECOMING RICH 
IN HIS OLD AGE. g. e. 

I was poor — but I was twenty — 
Now at threescore I have plenty. 

What a miserable lot ! 
Now that I have hoarded treasure, 
I no more can taste of pleasure : 

When I could, I had it not. 



XIV. (443.) ON DEATH. * p. 108. 

The Bath, obsequious Beauty's smile, 

Wine, Fragrance, Music's heavenly breath, 

Can but our hastening hours beguile, 
And slope the path that leads to death. 

XV. (444.) THE SAME SUBJECT. * p. 108. 

Straight is our passage to the grave, 
Whether from Meroe's burning wave, 

Or Attic groves we roam. 
Grieve not in distant lands to die ! 
Our vessels seek from every sky 

Death's universal home. 



XVI. (458.) DIOGENES TO CROESUS. h. 

When now the Cynic in dark Pluto's reign 
His earthly task of snarling wisdom clos'd ; 

Laughing he heard the Lydian king complain, 

And spread his cloak, and near the prince repos'd. 
m 2 



244 EPIGRAMS BY 

" Drainer," he cried, " of streams that flowed with gold, 
My higher dignity in hell behold ! 
For all I had on earth this nether sphere 
Receives with me, — but thou hast nothing here." 



XVII. (476.) ON A MURDERED CORPSE. 

Though here you laid my corpse, when none were nigh, 
One saw thee, murderer ! — one all- seeing eye. 



XVIII. (463.) DIVINATION. k. b. 

Three damsels once essay'd, in mirthful vein, 

Who first should visit Pluto's gloomy reign ; 

And thrice with anxious hearts they threw the die, 

That should decide their future destiny. 

The lot on one was cast; but no alarm 

Excited — she but mock'd the idle charm ; 

Yet unawares her destiny fulfiU'd, 

Slipp'd from the roof, and by the fall was kill'd. 

True are the Fates when hovering evils brood : 

Forbear to trust them when they promise good ! 



XIX. (519.) 
ON THE NINE LYRIC POETS. * p. 362. 

O sacred voice of the Pierian choir, 
Immortal Pindar ! O enchanting air 

Of sweet Bacchylides ! O rapturous lyre, 
Majestic graces, of the Lesbian fair ! 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 245 

Muse of Anacreon, the gay, the young ! 

Stesichorus, thy full Homeric stream ! 
Soft elegies by C sea's poet sung ! 

Persuasive Ibycus, thy glowing theme ! 

Sword of Alcaeus, that, with tyrants' gore 
Gloriously painted, lift'st thy point so high ! 

Ye tuneful nightingales that still deplore 
Your Alcman, prince of amorous poesy ! — 

Oh yet impart some breath of heavenly fire 

To him who venerates the Grecian lyre ! 



XX. (521.) ON SAPPHO. * p. 363. 

Come, Lesbian maids ! to Juno's royal dome ! 
With steps that hardly press the pavement, come ! 
Let your own Sappho lead the lovely choir, 
And to the altar bear her golden lyre. 
Then first, in graceful order slow advance, 
Weaving light mazes of the joyous dance : 
Herself the while her heaven-taught strains shall pour 
Such strains as sang Calliope of yore. 



XXI. (560.) ON MENANDER. shepherd. 

The bees, Menander ! who with active wing 

Sport 'midst the flowers that deck the Muse's spring, 

Around thy lips in thick'ning clusters hung, 

And tipp'd with honey- drops thy infant tongue. 

The Graces, too, on thee their gifts bestow, 

And teach thy strains with elegance to flow. 



246 EPIGRAMS BY 

Celestial bard ! — immortal as thy lays, 

Thy native Athens shares thy meed of praise. 



XXII. (561.) ON THE SAME. * p. 365. 

Menander, sweet Thalia's pride ! 
Well art thou placed by Cupid's side. 
Priest to the god of soft delights, 
Thou spreadst on earth his joyous rites ; 
And, sure, the boy himself we see 
To smile, and please, and breathe in thee ; 
For, musing on yon imag'd stone, 
To see thee, and to love, are one. 



XXIII. (562.) ON THE SAME. * p. 365. 

Behold Menander, syren of the stage, 
Who charm'd, with Love allied, a happier age ! 
Light wanton wreaths, that never shall be dead, 
Are curled luxuriant round the poet's head, 
Who dress 'd the same in colours bright and gay, 
And breath'd enchantment o'er the living lay. 



XXIV. (633.) 
ON ONE WHO SLEW HIS MOTHER. 

bury not the dead, but let him lie 
A prey for dogs beneath th' unpitying sky ! 
Our common mother Earth would grieve to hide 
The hateful body of the matricide. 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 247 

XXV. (637.) THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH, b. b. 

Consigned to dust, which whilom gave me birth, 
I care not what convulsions shake the earth. 



XXVI. (638.) EPITAPH. 
My lot was meagre fare, disease, and shame 
At length I died — you all must do the same 



XXVII. (639.) ANOTHER. 
Fobtune and Hope, farewell ! I 've found the port : 
You 've done with me — Go now, with others sport ! 



THE SAME PARAPHRASED. moobe. 
At length to Fortune and to you, 
Delusive Hope, a last adieu ! 
The charm that once beguil'd is o'er, 
And I have reach'd my destin'd shore. 
Away, away ! your flattering arts 
May now betray some simpler hearts ; 
And you will smile at their believing, 
And they shall weep at your deceiving. 



XXVIII. (642.) EPITAPH ON A FRIEND.* p. 288. m. 

How often, Lycid, shall I bathe with tears 
This little stone which our great love endears ! 
Thou too, in memory of the vows we made, 
Drink not of Lethe in the realms of shade ! 



248 EPIGRAMS BY 

XXIX. (650.) 

ON A HAPPY OLD MAN. * p. 293. h. and b. 

Take old Amyntor to thy breast, dear soil, 

In kind remembrance of his former toil, 

Who first enriched and ornamented thee 

With many a lovely shrub and branching tree, 

And lured the stream to fall in artful showers 

Upon thy thirsting herbs and fainting flowers. 

First in the spring he knew the rose to rear, 

First in the autumn cull the ripen' d pear ; 

His vines were envied all the village round, 

And favouring Heaven shower' d plenty on his ground. 

Therefore, kind Earth, reward him in thy breast 

With a green covering and an easy rest. 



XXX. (679.) 

ON A MISERABLE OLD MAN. * p. 292. 

By years and misery worn, no hand to save 
With some poor pittance from a desperate grave, 
With the small strength my wretched age supplied, 
I crawl'd beneath this lonely pile, and died. 
Screen'd from the scoff of Pride, and Grandeur's frown, 
In this sad spot I laid my sufferings down, 
Revers'd the doom of nature, and instead 
Of dead and buried, was entomb'd and dead. 



XXXI. (711.) EPITAPH ON AN INFANT, r. 
Too soon, grim Monarch, with unholy hand, 
You snatch' d this infant to your dreary land, 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 249 

Like some fair rose-bud, pluck'd from mortal sight 

Ere all its beauties open into light. 

Cease, wretched parents ! cease your wailings wild, 

Nor mourn for ever your departed child ! 

Her youthful graces, and her form so fair, 

Deserved a dwelling in the realms of air. 

As Hylas once — believe the soothing lay ! — 

The Nymphs — not Death — have borne your child away. 



XXXII. (712.) ANOTHER. shepherd. 

Five years I lived, with lightsome heart and gay, 
Then, tranquil, mingled with my fellow clay. 
Mourn not my fate ! my days of life were few ; 
My pleasures brief — but brief my sorrows too. 

XXXIII. (78.) FUNERAL HONOURS. * p. 295. m. 

Seek not to glad these senseless stones 

With fragrant ointments, rosy wreaths ; 
No warmth can reach our mouldering bones 

From lustral fire, that vainly breathes. 
Now let me revel whilst I may : 

The wine that o'er my grave is shed 
Mixes with earth and turns to clay — 

No honours can delight the dead. 



XXXIV. THE SAME SUBJECT. 

Oh, think not that with garlands crown' d, 
Inhuman near thy grave we tread ; 
m 5 



250 EPIGRAMS BY UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 

Or blushing roses scatter round 
To mock the paleness of the dead ! 

What though we drain the fragrant bowl, 
In flowers adorn'd and silken vest, 

Oh, think not, brave departed soul, 
We revel to disturb thy rest ! 

Feign'd is the pleasure that appears, 
And false the triumph of our eyes ; 

Our draughts of joy are dash'd with tears, 
Our songs imperfect and in sighs. 

We inly mourn ; o'er flowery plains 
To roam in joyous trance, is thine ; 

And pleasures, unallied to pains, 
Unfading sweets, immortal wine. 



XXXV. (738.) EPITAPH. * p. 296. 

Thou art not dead, my Prote ! though no more 
A sojourner on earth's tempestuous shore ; 
Fled to the peaceful islands of the blest, 
Where Youth and Love, for ever beaming, rest ; 
Or joyful wandering o'er Elysian ground, 
Among sweet flowers where not a thorn is found ! 
No winter freezes there, no summer fires, 
No sickness weakens, and no labour tires ; 
No longer poverty nor thirst oppress, 
Nor envy of man's boasted happiness ; 
But spring for ever glows serenely bright, 
And bliss immortal hails the heavenly light ! 



NOTES. 



ARCHILOCHUS. Page 1. 

I. Krj^ea fxev aTovoevra, HepinXees* 

The three fragments here brought together, and which are 
believed to be unconnected portions of a single Elegy, are pre- 
served respectively by Stobseus (Flor. cxxiii. p. 615. Gesn.) and 
by Plutarch (De Aud. Poet. torn. ii. pp. 23,33). Commentators 
are divided as to the subject to which the poem maybe supposed 
to have had reference ; but there seems enough in the expressions 
made use of to render at least very plausible the conjecture of 
Schneider, that they allude to an actual tempest, in which the 
brother-in-law of the poet, among other citizens of distinction, 
suffered shipwreck, — an interpretation accordingly followed in 
the version here offered in substitution for that in the former 
edition, which was founded on a different apprehension of the 
meaning of the original. From our brief memorials of the poet's 
life we learn, that the Pericles here addressed as a friend, became 
afterwards a bitter enemy of the poet, and, as such, fell under 
the severest lash of his formidable iambics. 

II. 'Atnrida pev ScuW tis ayaWerai' 

This Epigram, for such we may consider it, is compounded 
of two distichs, one preserved by Aristophanes (EityuYi, 1298), 



252 NOTES. 

and assigned by the Scholiast on that passage to its right owner ; 
— the other, though in a broken state, by Plutarch (torn. ii. 
p. 239). The " Foe-man," in the original, is Luiau rig — A cer- 
tain Man of the Saians, — the ancient, perhaps aboriginal, inha- 
bitants of the island of Samothrace, in an expedition against 
whom the accident here alluded to is supposed to have hap- 
pened. It may be doubtful whether it is to this circumstance, 
or to that of a similar occurrence in the life of Alcseus, that Ho- 
race makes the remarkable comparison of an event in his own 
history — 

" Tecum Philippos, et celerem fugam 
Sensi, relicta non bene parmula." — II. Od. 7- 

Both Falstaff and Hudibras, it is probable, benefited by the 
threefold example of these warrior-poets. 

III. Ov TOL 7ToAA' €7rl t6'£,<1 TaVV(T(7€Tat' 

From Plutarch, in his life of Theseus, where he calls Archilo* 
chus as a witness to the introduction of the mode of fighting 
hand to hand by the Abantes, the ancient inhabitants of Eubcea, 
whom Homer also thus notices (Iliad. B. 542.) — raJ V cL^ " A&au- 

T£S tVOVTO. 

" Euboea next her martial sons prepares, 

And sends the brave Abantes to the wars ; — 

Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair : 

Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air ; 

But with protended spears, in fighting fields, 

Pierce the tough corslets and the brazen shields." (Pope.) 

IV. 'AAA' aye, avv kuiQiovi. 

From Athenaeus, lib. xi. p. 483 ; where the Reader will find 
abundance of learned dissertation as to the shape and uses of 
the peculiar species of drinking-vessel here named, which, it 
seems, was of Spartan invention, and suited to the purposes of 
naval and military expeditions. Jacobs supposes the words to 



ARCHILOCHUS. 253 

be addressed to an attendant cup-bearer ; but there is nothing in 
the original to support the conjecture. 

V. Ov (j)i\e(o fieyav OToaTr\yov ovcie SicnreTrXey fievov . 

This long mutilated and disjointed fragment, restored by 
Brunck upon collation of various passages in the works of Dio 
Chrysostom and Galen, and the old Scholiast on Theocritus, 
presents a curious picture of the martial character and habits of 
that early age, although liable, in some respects, to be diversely 
interpreted. The meaning here adopted seems to be borne out 
by several passages in Homer — as, for instance, his picture of 
the boaster Othryoneus — tov fitxfoeu irtyt fitQxvrec. (Iliad, xiii.) 

" Proud of himself and of th' imagin'd bride, 
The field he measur'd with a larger stride. 
Him, as he stalk'd, the Cretan javelin found — " (Pope.) 

and of the fair-haired Euphorbus — ko^o,i %u,qirw(si9 6/xotxi. 
(II. xvii.) 

"The shining circlets of his golden hair, 
Which ev'n the Graces might be proud to wear — " 

whilst, on the other hand, the portrait of Tydeus — 
"Whose little body lodg'd a mighty mind — " 
may be regarded as constituting a resemblance to the reverse of 
the medal. It seems, after all, more than probable that the 
portraits presented were meant as individual likenesses ; and, if 
so, they afford no unfavourable specimen of the author's talent 
for personal satire. 

VI. Ov fjLoi to. Tvyeco tov tcoXv^ovgov [xeXei. (Pre- 
served by Plutarch, de Anim. tranq. ii. 470.) 

The wealth of Gyges, like that of Croesus, appears to have 
very early passed into a proverb. It will be recollected that the 
poet was contemporary with the former monarch. 



254 NOTES. 

The third verse of the original — ^gyaXwc ovk \$ rv^uvuiZog — 
is commended by the Scholiast on iEschylus (Prom. 224), who 
remarks that the term " tyranny," as applied to kingly govern- 
ment, was unknown to the Homeric age, and may very proba- 
bly have been first introduced by Archilochus himself in this 
passage. 

VII. Tows dvdpwTroiffi dvfibs, TXavKe Aeirrlreu) ttcu 
ylverai Qvarois okoitjv Zevs k<f yjjieprjv ctyei. 

(Preserved by Stobseus.) 

Archilochus is classed by Suidas among the ancient Sceptics 

on account of this couplet. It is, however, only borrowed by him 

from Homer (Od. xviii. 135.), and is again imitated in a Latin 

couplet attributed to Cicero by St. Augustin (De Civit. Dei, v. 8.) 

" Sunt hominum mentes, quali pater ipse Deorum 

Jupiter auctiferas lustrabat lampade terras." 

VIII. TXavKe vpa. (Heraclides Ponticus, de Alleg. 
Homer, c. iv. p. 12. Schow.) 

The same verses, with the omission of the last hemistich, 
may be read in Plutarch (De Superstit. t. ii. p. 169). Their pre- 
sent amended form is due to the successive labours of Pierson, 
Brunck, and Wakefield. 

IX. Qvfie, Ovfx dji-qyavoifTL Kirfeaiv KVKwfxere. 

Ibid. Tols 6eo7s Tidei rot ttclvtu. 7ro\\cinis fikv e/c kcucwv. 

X. Xp-qfxarojv aeX-rov ovlev kcTiv ov& aVw^uoro^. 

These, which are severally preserved by Stobseus as three de- 
tached fragments, have been corjjectured, from the style and mat- 
ter, to belong to the same poem, the general design and tendency 
of which may be inferred from them. To the first and second 
may securely be traced the " ^Equam memento " and " Permitte 
Divis ceetera " of Horace. The principle of imitation may also be 



ARCHILOCHUS. 255 

discerned on comparison of Horace's second Ode with the third 
of these fragments, which is yet more remarkable as containing 
the most ancient classical allusion extant to the phenomenon of 
a solar eclipse — the frequent occasion of superstitious fear and 
wonder even to much later ages. 

XI. '£2 Zev, ffbv fiev ovpavov KpaTOS, av <f epya 
en avdpwirovs peis Xeiopya re Kadejiia-ra. 

Ibid. Ov yap eadXa Kardavovcrt, Kepro/ieTy eV avfipdaiv. 

Ibid. Ov tis aldolos fier cmttiov Kai7rep ev^rj/jios daviov 
yiverai. ydpiv he BfxdXXov tov £u)ov diuKOfiev 
%tool dvQpioTriov. K&KiGTa $e r<ji davovTL yiverai. 
This also is composed of three separate fragments, which may, 
like the preceding, be supposed to have been originally united, 
or at least incorporated in a single poem. The apparently im- 
pious ascription to the Supreme Deity of all the portentous evils 
with which human nature is afflicted, is noticed by Clemens 
Alexandrinus (Strom, v. p. 725.), and made the subject of com- 
parison with a passage in the remains of the Pseudo-Orpheus — 
Auras B' If e&yuQoh kockov Sdyitoigi (pVTivet. 



He out of good can bring 



Evil to man — dread battle — tearful woes — 
He, and no other. (Elton.) 

XII. 'H^e B" war ovov pa%is 

e.GTY\Kev v\r)s dypias eVioTe^s. 
Ov yap tl KaXos yjopos ovS' ecpipepos, 
cvff eparos, olos dfx<p\ liiptos pods. 
Upon the occasion of the Parians sending a colony to the Isle 
of Thasos, Archilochus is recorded to have transferred himself 
thither with the remains of his fortune, wrecked in the civil 
commotions of his native city; and the picturesque though 
gloomy picture of the island presented in these fragments, is 



256 NOTES. 

conjectured to have formed part of a poetical narrative of his 
adventures, tinctured no doubt by the prejudices of a wanderer 
and an exile. 



SAPPHO. Page 12. 

I. TloiKiXodpov aQavar 'AQpoSiTO.. 

The authenticity of this celebrated poem is vouched by Dio - 
nysius of Halicarnassus, and there seems no reason for question- 
ing the security of the foundation on which it rests. To what 
has already been said in justification of attempting " another 
new version " nothing shall here be added ; but an apology is 
perhaps due to Bishop Blomfield, as well as to other recent 
critics, for presuming to avow a preference of the old notKi^.66^ov , 
over the comparatively flat and tautologous reading which they 
have substituted in place of it. At the commencement of the 
fifth stanza, ounce*, I' Uvixouto' we have willingly availed our- 
selves of the correction of an error into which Philips and other 
translators had fallen, in making Sappho (like a lady, says the 
writer in the Edinburgh Review, paying a long morning visit,) 
send away her chariot, while she remains behind to bestow ad- 
vice and consolation on the love-sick poetess. 

II. (fraiverai fioi Ktjios 'laos Qeoiaiv. 

This exquisite fragment needs no new praises, and can derive 
no advantage from any comments in addition to those with which 
it has been already so often and so abundantly illustrated. The 
object of the present translator has been to avail himself both of 
the faults and beauties of his several predecessors, by endeavour- 
ing to correct the former, and by freely adopting the latter 
wherever it was consistent with the frame and measure of his 
verse. Thus he has not hesitated to borrow the first line from 
Philips's translation, and the epithet "grassy pale" from that 
of the Edinburgh critic, as not knowing how to substitute any 
better representation of the original in either instance. 



SAPPHO. 257 

Fragments. 

I. 'AffTepes jiev a/nrl KctXav ffeXdvay 

0.7TS a7rOKpV7TTOVTt (j)Cl€Vv6v €ldoS, 

oTnrorav 7r\r]doi(7a fidXiffra Xdfiirr) 

apyvpea ydv. (Eustath. in Iliad. O. p. 729.) 
The epithet dgyvgice. is here inserted, following the happy con- 
jecture of Blomfield, derived from a passage in the Emperor Ju- 
lian's Epistles. 

II. dficf)! B' vdup 

.... 7cavypbv KeXadel &' vadiov 
[.laXivcov' aidvffaofjievwy de (f)vXXojv 
Kujjua KciTappei. 
There can he little doubt that Horace had this passage in 
view, when he wrote, (Epod. ii. 27.) 

" Labuntur altis interim ripis aquas ; 
Queruntur in sylvis aves ; 
Frondesqae lymphis obstrepunt manantibus, 
Somnos quod invitet leves — " 
according to a fortunate conjecture of Markland, who proposes 
the substitution of Frondes for Fontes (the old reading), on the 
authority of a parallel passage in Propertius, 

"Multaque nativis obstrepit arbor aquis ; — " iv. 4. 4. 
a conjecture which this fragment of Sappho serves strongly to 
fortify. 

III. eXOe, Kv7rpi, 
yjpvakaiaiv kv KvXiKecrmv afipais 
ovfxyie^nyfxevov daXiaioi veKrap 

olvoyodiaa 
TolaZ* eraipots Toimv lfxo7s re Kai vols. 
Restored to its present form by Volger. " "What shall we say 



258 NOTES. 

to the hearty out-break of her chanson a boire, preserved by Athe- 
naeus ? " — Edinb. Rev. in the article already cited. Moore has 
exhibited a paraphrase of the same fragment in his notes to 
Anacreon. 

IV. Kardavoiaa 3e Kela' ov^eirora fjivajjiocrvva. aeQev 
etrerer ovdeiroT els varepov* ov yap Tredex^ts (jpodwv 
twv eK Hiepias. a'W d<pavr}s kyiv 'A'ida Sopots 
<poiTa.aeis 7reS' dfLavpQv veicvwv eKTreirorafxeva, 
" Non Fama2 memoris post obitum penna superstitem 
Te sublime vehet, Pieriis cui caput est rosis 
Intactum : sed iners in Stygio nunc quoque carcere 
Umbra ignota lates, vilia nee deseris agmina." (Grotius.) 
It is somewhat extraordinary that this very remarkable frag- 
ment should have failed to attract the notice of the lively Edin- 
burgh critic. 

"The fire and enthusiasm/' observes Mr. Bland, in the note 
annexed in the former edition of these Collections, p. 173, 
" which so strongly mark the writings and pourtray the cha- 
racter of Sappho, appear in none of her works more unequivo- 
cally than in this little fragment. It has the appearance of a 
burst of indignation at some homespun, mighty good sort of 
woman, who had neither a soul susceptible of poetry herself, 
nor the sense to admire, nor the candour to allow of it in others. 
This is a description of persons which has always been severely 
handled by poets ; and the stigma of contempt with which they 
are branded by Sappho, is a luxury to what they are sentenced 
to undergo by Dante — ' Questi sciaurati, che mai non fur vivi, 
&c.'" 

" Those miserables, who never truly lived. 
*»*«■* 
No record of their names is left on high ; 

Mercy and Justice spurn them, and refuse. 
Take we no note of them — Look, and pass by ! " 



sappho. 259 

V. 'AS/jifiTOv Xoyovj (J 'ralpe, /xaflwr, tovs dyddovs (f)lXei, 
tlov deiXtov & aTre^ov, yvovs otl SetXiov SXlyrj ydpis. 

A Scolion, preserved by Athenaeus (xv. p. 695,) and attributed 
by some to Alcseus, by others (as by Brunck,) to Praxilla of Si- 
cyon ; but claimed for Sappho. Whatever was the origin, this 
" Saying of Admetus" had early passed into a proverb. 

VI. Sv de (?T€(pavois io<$LKa TrapQead' epara7s Qofiaiffiv, 
opiraKcts avriTio trvveppais cnraXaitn yepoiv. 
evdvdea yap 7re\ercu, /ecu Xapires ficucaipat 
LidXXov 7rpor€pr)v affretyavojTOiffL £' dTrvarpetyovTcii. 

Blomfield contents himself with settling the metre of this 
much contested passage, leaving the question of its interpretation 
to be adjusted by others. That which appeared most easy and 
natural has been adopted in the present translation. A French 
versifier proposes the following. " Elle engage Atthis a se cou- 
ronner de fleurs, a l'exemple des victimes pretes a etre sacrifices. 
Tu sais que la jeune viclime, 
Le front pare de fleurs, en est plus chere aux Dieux." 
But he fails to assign any motive for so extraordinary a request. 

VII. Uapdevla, HapOevia, ttoi Lie XiTrova diroiyri ; 

OVKCTL 7]%h) TTpOS T€ } 0VK6TL rj£,(s). 

VIII. 'Eyw $e (j>iXr)fi dflpoavvaVf kuI llol to XaLiirpov 

epos deXlto Kai to kcxXov XeXoyice. 

The passage in Athenseus, introductory of this fragment, is 
thus rendered by the French translator, Lefebvre de Villebrune, 
torn. v. p. 422. 

" Penseriez-vous done que cette delicatesse puisse avoir 
quelque chose de flatteur sans la vertu ? Sapho, qui etoit vrai- 
ment femme, et qui faisoit de si bons vers, regardoit comme un 
devoir agreable de toujours distinguer Fhonnetete d'une molle 
delicatesse. Voici ce qu'elle disoit : — 



260 NOTES. 

" J'aime la Volupte ; mais j'ai toujours eu en partage Tamour 
de l'Honnetete, en meme terns que celui de l'eclat, ou du beau;" 
— Montrant ainsi a tout le monde, que, desirant de vivre a 
son gre, elle a cependant toujours aussi aime l'honnetete en 
meme temps que l'eclat. Voila ce qui caracterise la vertu." 

IX. T\vKe?a jjL&Tep, ovroi dvvajiai tcpeiceiv rbv laTQv, 
7ro0w dajxelaa 7raid6s, fipadivdv dt 'Atypodirav. 

" Oh, my sweet mother — 't is in vain — 
I cannot weave, as once I wove. 
So 'wilder'd is my heart and brain 
With thinking of that youth I love." 
I have attempted, in these four lines, to give some idea of that 
beautiful fragment of Sappho, which represents so truly (as 
Warton remarks,) " the languor and listlessness of a person 
deeply in love." — (Moore's Evenings in Greece, p. 18.) 

X. Aedvice jjl€v a SeXava kcu UXrfiades' jaecrai de 
vvktcs' Tvaph d' e'f>)£er' wpa' eyio de fxova KaQevdw. 

XL H\ovtos dvev ciperds ovk doLvrjs Tcdpoucos' 
a de Kpdcris evdaifiovias eyei. to atcpov. 

XII. "E<T7re|0e, irdvra tyepeis oaa cjmiroXis efficedaa avws. 

(f)fpeis div, tyepecs cfiya, (pepeis jxarepi TraTda. 
This appears to have belonged to one of the Epithalamia, or 
Nuptial Songs, of Sappho, to which Catullus was indebted for 
those which he familiarized to us under that title. Thus, 
" Hespere, qui ccelo lucet jucundior ignis," &c. 

XIII. 'Eort fxoi KaXr] 7rdis yjivaeoiaiv dvQe\\oiaiv 
e/jL(j)eprj fuoptyav eyovaa, KXets' jxev dya7rara* 
dvTt rds eyu) ovde Avdiav irdaav, ovd' epavvdv. 

XIV. 'O fxev yap Ka\6s 3 oaaov \de1v 7reXerat, 
6 de Kayados avr/fca kcli koXos eorcu. 



SAPPHO. 261 

Epitaphs. Page 20. 

I. Haidvrj ckjhovos eoiffa. (Vat. Cod. p. 193. Jacobs 
i. 49.) 

As corrected by Bentley, it implies merely what the present 
version expresses. But Brunck's emendation, which is that 
adopted by Blomfield, would convert it into a votive inscription, 
on the offering to Lucina, by a mother, of the image of her new- 
born infant. In either sense, it may be regarded as the proto- 
type of many similar Epigrams in the Anthology. 

II. Tw ypnrti UeKdywvL. (Vat. Cod. 286. Steph. 196.) 
The tombs, even of persons in the most humble conditions of 

life, were usually ornamented with devices — probably, in such 
instances, of the rudest description, emblematic of the trade or 
profession of their inmates, — a 'custom of which the Anthology 
furnishes us with numberless examples. So Virgil — 

" At pius iEneas ingenti mole sepulcrum 

Imponit, suaque arma viro, remumque tubamque." 

III. Tifiddos tide kovls. (Vat. Cod. 285. Steph. 333.) 
This also may be considered as the precursor of many similar 

inscriptions, both as allusive to the premature fate of the victim, 
and to the custom of friends depositing locks of their hair as 
offerings at the tomb of the departed. The bridal chamber of 
Proserpine — an image, which ought not to have been omitted 
in the translation — is one also of frequent occurrence among 
successive imitators. (See, for example, Simonides, 103.) 

Poems ascribed to Sappho. Page 21. 

I. Et tols avQeatv ijdeXev. 

"The following," says Moore, in one of his notes on Ana- 
creon, " is a fragment of the Lesbian poetess. It is cited in 
the romance of Achilles Tatius, who appears to have resolved 



262 NOTES. 

the numbers into prose ;" and he then subjoins a version, which, 
though full of poetical beauty, is neither so near the original, nor 
so simple in expression, as one by Elton, who nevertheless has 
borrowed from, while he improved on, his predecessor. The 
following is the version of a French poet, who, after ascribing 
the superiority to Anacreon, adds, in the language of compa- 
rison, " Mais, si Ton ne trouve pas dans Sapho un ton aussi 
leger, une imagination aussi fleurie, du moins y remarque-t-on 
toujours une maniere plus touchante et plus vraie, et souvent un 
sentiment profond." 

" S'il falloit une reine aux filles du printems, 
Jupiter eut choisi la rose : 
Voyez-la qui sourit, vermeille, et demi-close ; 
C'est Foeil des pres fleuris, c'est l'amour de nos champs. 
Son sein epanoui perfume le zephire, 
Son charme s'insinue au fond de notre coeur ; 
II y repand une douce langueur ; 
C'est la volupte qu'on respire. 

After all, upon reference to the Romance from which it is taken, 
(The Loves of Clitophon and Leucippe, lib. ii. cap. 1.) it will be 
found that Tatius does not even pretend to call it Sappho's, — an 
ascription which, it seems, is purely owing to the lively inven- 
tion of Henry Stephens. 

II. Krjvov d) xpvaoQpove Molar' eviaxes. 

" This fragment," observes Mr. Moore, speaking of the first 
of the two included in this imaginary correspondence, " is sup- 
posed, on the authority of Chameleon (Athen. xiii. 599-)> to have 
been addressed to Sappho. We have also a stanza attributed to 
her, which some romancers have supposed to be her answer to 
Anacreon. ' Mais, par malheur, (as Bayle says,) Sapho vint au 
monde environ cent ou six vingt ans avant Anacreon.' " 

Blomfield has, somewhat inconsistently, admitted this last- 



ERINNA. 263 

mentioned stanza into his collection of Sappho's Remains (No. 9) 
at the same time that he exposes the anachronism, and ridicules 
Volger for his attempt to support its genuineness. 

III. QeXeis tl enveiv. aXka jue KiaKvei 
aidojs .... 

This morsel, of at least doubtful authenticity, rests on a pas- 
sage in Aristotle's Rhetoric (lib. i. cap. 9.) from which Bayle and 
others have inferred that " Alcseus was desirous of being on a 
tenderer footing with his celebrated countrywoman than she 
chose to permit." (See Edinb. Rev., from which the translation 
in the text is taken.) 



ERINNA. Page 23. 

I. 'E£ ctTctXav x €l P^ y rc ^ e ypdfbfjLara' 

(Vat. Cod. 206. Steph. 301.) 
The conceit of this epigram seems to demand for it a date 
more recent than that assigned to Erinna as contemporary with 
Sappho ; for, though nothing is now more trite and hackneyed 
than to talk of a picture breathing, or speaking, we have no au- 
thority for the use of so bold a metaphor in an age of such re- 
mote simplicity. The thought of Prometheus admitting him- 
self to be vanquished seems to have been subsequently adopted 
as a common-place compliment to painters and sculptors. (See 
Antipater Sid. 55, on Myron's Cow.) 

II. 2ra\ou kcu <reiprjves e/j,al. (Vat. Cod. p. 319.) 
This poem is perhaps chiefly valuable for the picture it exhi- 
bits of a Grecian tomb, and of the emblematic devices which 
were often sculptured or graven upon it. In the former edition, 
p. 308, is a note illustrative of these customary embellishments; 
but the Reader may find the subject more fully treated in Potter's 
Antiquities, and other works of familiar reference. For Baucis, 



264 NOTES. 

the name of the beloved companion whose death Erinna laments 
in this and the succeeding epigram, that of Ida was substituted 
in the edition of 1813, and is here retained, euphonies gratia. 

III. NvfHpas BclvkiSos e/x/it. (Vat. Cod. 319.) 
Both the right reading, and the true interpretation, of this 
epigram have been much disputed ; but for the particulars of 
the contest we must refer to the note in Jacobs. Whatever merit 
this and the former epigram may intrinsically possess, is greatly 
enhanced by the resemblance between the event which they are 
designed to commemorate, and the circumstances attending the 
fate of their reputed author. 

" Scarce nineteen summer suns had shed 
Youth's roses o'er the virgin's head, 
While by a guardian mother's side 
Her customary task she plied, 
Bade the rich silks her loom prepare, 
Or plied the distaff's humbler care. 
Her modest worth the Muses knew, 
Brought her bright Genius forth to view, 
And — ah ! too soon from mortal eyes — 
Bore her, their handmaid, to the skies." m. 

(Edit. 1813. p. 300). 



ALC^EUS. Page 27. 

I. "Yei fiev 6 Sfevs. (Athen. x. p. 430.) 
This fragment, as restored by the Commentators, consists of 
two stanzas in Alcaic metre, wanting the two last verses of the 
first stanza, which have been conjecturally supplied. Horace 
is supposed by these critics to have been indebted to the poem 
of which this fragment is a part, for his Ode, " Vides ut alta stet 
nive candidum," I. 9 ; but, if so, he has at least avoided the odd 
inconsistency of making Jove descend in rain, at the same time 



ALCiEUS. 265 

that he binds his rivers in ice ; a circumstance which leads us 
to suspect some now incurable error in the transcribers. 

II. To fiev yap evQev KVjia KvXivderai. 

This also is a broken fragment, preserved in an imperfect 
state by Heraclides, the hiatus in which has been filled up by- 
conjecture, Horace again being called in to furnish the mate- 
rials. 

*' Nonne vides ut 

Nudum remigio latus, 
Et mains celeri saucius Africo, 
Antennseque gemant, ac sine funibus 
Vix durare carinae 
Possint imperiosius 
/Equor? non tibi sunt integra linea." (Carm. i. 14.) 

The incident of the third wave threatening to overwhelm the 
vessel, already endangered by the violence of its two immediate 
precursors, is in conformity with popular opinion, as confirmed 
by various passages in ancient Greek authors. 

III. Ov x/») KctKolaiv dvjjiov l7riTpe7rrjv' 
TrpoKOipofies yap ovdev doap.evoi t 

W Bvk\l' (pap/iaKov & apiarov 
oivov eveacafievots fiedvadrjy. 
This stanza is preserved in Athenseus, lib. x. p. 430. 

IV. Nvi> j(prj fiedvadrjv ical ^Qova npbs fiiav 
Traiqv, eireidi] Kardave MvpaiXos. 

A song of triumph on the death of Myrsilus, tyrant of Mity- 
lene. Hence Horace : 

Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero 
Pulsanda tellus. 



266 NOTES. 

V. Teyye 7rvevfJLora oiru)' to yap darpov 7r€piTe\\ercii 
d & ujpa -^aXeiTa, Trdvra c>e di\prj V7rb KCtvfiaros, 
dyei <)' e/c TT€Takb)v rdde dv rem^ 

dvQei kcu ffKoXvfios' vvv £e yvvaims fiiapwrarai. 
The two last verses are supplied by Proclus, the Commen- 
tator on Hesiod. The whole is a close imitation of a passage 
in ' ' The Works and Days " of that poet. 

r Hf<,og Is oKohvpog r clv&il. 

" When the green artichoke ascending flowers, 
When, in the sultry season's toilsome hours, 
Perch'd on a branch, beneath his veiling wings, 
The loud Cicada shrill and frequent sings ; 
Then plump the goat, then best the wine, and then 
Are women sprightliest found, and feeblest men." 

(Elton.) 

VI. lliVw/zev" ti ra \v%r d^evvufiev ; haKTvkos dfxepa. ■ 
Blomfield has arranged this fragment according to a conjec- 
ture of Porson (Eurip. Medea. 494.) The phrase Accktv'Xos 
dyJgu, here rendered "the day invites," means perhaps no more 
than to express the swiftness of time by reference to the shortest 
standard of space. The three preceding fragments are found in 
Athenseus, lib. x. 

VII. Mapfiaipei £e fieyas cofxos ^aAfcw. 

(Athen. xiv. p. 627.) 

It is not easy to see why this spirited poem has been inter- 
preted as a description of the ornaments of the poet's own house. 
At least such a meaning is not clearly deducible from the words 
of Athenseus in the passage, where it is cited. It seems never- 
theless to have been so considered, both by Casaubon, and by 
the French translator, M. de Villebrune, and is so consonant 



ALC^US. 267 

with poetical tradition, as perhaps to justify not merely our ad- 
herence, but even a liberty taken with the concluding verses, by 
giving to them a sense conformable to the same supposition, 
without violence to the original, although not strictly warranted 
by it. 

VIII. 'ApyaXeov izevla kcikov aaKerov' a fxeyav 
Safiva Xadv djia^dvia avv dcieXtyea. 

These two fragments have been joined together from similarity 
of subject. They are both in Stobseus, Tit. 96. 

IX. Ob Xldui, ovSe ^vX\ ovde 
rkyvr) 7€kt6\>(i)v at TtoXeis eltriv, 

ClW OTTOV TTOT CLV WGIV CLV^pES 

avTa aw^eiv el^ores, 

evravda Teiyr] kcu ttoXcis. 
This passage, metrically arranged in the volume of Sir Wil- 
liam Jones's Works which contains his well-known paraphrase, 
is cited in prose by the rhetorist Aristides, who professes to 
give rather the sense than the express words of the poet. On 
this account, probably, and perhaps also from despair of reducing 
the passage, even conjecturally, to any form of regular metre, it 
is altogether omitted by Blomfield ; and, in a more recent Ger- 
man edition, it is inserted in prose, as it is found in Aristides. 
It needs scarcely be remarked that the lines above given from Sir 
W. Jones constitute only a small portion of the poem to which 
they belong, the remainder being the application of the sense of 
the original to the circumstances of the British empire. 



n 2 



268 NOTES. 

STESICHORUS. Page 33. 

I. 'AeXtos h' 'Y-irepiovidas Senas 

effKarefjaive '\pvareov, 

6<ppa hi ojKeavolo Trepdaas 

dtyitcoL& iepds ttoti fiei'dea 

vvktos epe/jLvds, 

7T0TL fj.r)Tepa., KOvpiUav r akoyov, 

7raidas re (f>i\ovs' 6 & es aXcos efia $d- 
<j)vai(ri KardffKiov 
naval irats Aids. 
It would perhaps require no great exertion of critical inge- 
nuity to reduce this and the following fragments (preserved by 
Athenseus, lib. xi.) to the form of hexameter verse. There is no 
reason for supposing that all the poems of Stesichorus were 
written in the strophic form. 

In the first, Hercules is represented as parting from his com- 
panion, the Sun, after they had crossed the ocean together in a 
golden cup. This mythological conveyance for the Sun was 
adopted by several early poets, according to Athenseus. Has it 
any connexion with the amphora in which Hercules is also 
made to traverse the ocean on another occasion, for the libera- 
tion of Prometheus ? 

With respect to the remaining fragments, there is little to be 
said in the way of illustration. They all, more or less, bear 
witness to the romantic spirit which seems to have animated 
the author, and which would induce us, from what little is left, 
to style him the Ariosto of Greece, rather than, with some of 
the epigrammatists, to dignify him with the appellation of her 
Second Homer. The second, in the present series, might have 
been expected to come from the " Morgante Maggiore," or from 
a metrical chronicle of Richard Cceur de Lion. We are else- 
where informed by Athenseus, that Stesichorus was the first 



ibycus. 269 

writer who represented Hercules " in the costume of a robber " 
with his club and lion's hide, — the traditional garb with which 
painters and sculptors have ever since invested him. Before his 
time, the hero had always been imaged by poets as the " mighty 
hunter" of the Odyssey, with bent bow and embroidered bal- 
dric, CtUl (SotfoioVTl tOlKCig. 

II. ^Kv7T(j)€iov fie Xafiajv Senas efifxerpov ws TpiXayrjvoi', 
Triep emaxofievos, to pd ol irapiQr\Ke $6X0$ icepaaas. 

(Athen. xi. p. 499.) 

III. Ovveica Tvvdapeuis 

pe^iov irdai deotai, fiids Kvirpldos Xdder ri7nodutpov' 
Kelva Twddpeoj Kovpatai yokhMTCifxeva liyd- 
fxovs rpiydfiovs re ridrjffi, 
ml \ure<rr]vopas. 
(From the Scholiast on Euripides, Orest. 249.) 

IV. IloXXa Kvdwpia fjiaka iroTeppl- 

TTTOVV TTOTl ZltypOV CLVCLKTl, 

iroXXd £e fivppiva <f>vXXa 

teal podtvovs arecjidvovs 

"twv re KopojviSas ovXas. (From Athen. iii. p. 81.) 

V. Fragments put together from Stobseus, 123, 124. 

rov; Suv6utc&s Kheciuu. 



IBYCUS. Page 37. 

I. EvpvaXe, yXavKeuv ^apiriov ddXXos 
KraXXiKO/iwv fieXedrffia' <re jiey 
Kvwpis a t dyavofiXetyapos 
Heidoj podeoiaiv kv dvQeai 
Optyav. 



270 NOTES. 

II. ^Hjot fiev aire KvSui'iai. 

See note, p. 377 of the former edition. The version there 
published was founded on a misconception of the original, which 
it has been sought to correct in that now substituted. 



ALCMAN. Page 39. 

" Concerning Megalostrata, whom he loved with an honour- 
able passion, a woman skilled in the art of versification, and 
well qualified to retain lovers by the charms of her discourse, 
he thus speaks : 

Tovff abucw Movactv sfot%s "hu^ov, 

[axkuiqx TrugOeva (k£,uv§ol 

Miyu'hoaTgxTcc." (Athen. he. cit.) 



MELANIPPIDES. Page 40. 

tv A jiev 'A0ava 

opyav eppixpev 0' lepos cltto yeipos 

ei7re r tipper cuo^ea. (TwfxaTi Xvfjia 

r\ jie Tq.h^ eyoj Kcucoran $/£to/.u. 
Having referred above to the passage in Athenseus, where this 
singular fragment occurs, we have only now to remark that we 
have here the original of that pretty mythological conceit which 
Moore has recently revived in music and poetry of equal beauty. 
(See Evenings in Greece, p. 156.) 

" As Love, one summer eve, was straying, 
Who should he see, at that soft hour, 
But young Minerva, gravely playing 
Her flute within an olive bower ?" &c. 



ANACREON. — CLEOBULUS. 2/1 

Quick from the lips it made so odious, 

That graceless flute the Goddess took, 
And, while yet fill'd with breath melodious, 

Flung it into the glassy brook ; 
Where, as its vocal life was fleeting 

Adown the current, faint and shrill, 
At distance long 'twas heard repeating, 

' Woman, alas ! vain Woman still !' " 



ANACREON. Page 41. 

We may be excused for passing over these well-known compo- 
sitions without any additional commentary, and without even 
further references than those made by the numbers prefixed to 
each ode. The epigrams which have been selected are also on 
subjects requiring no illustration, and are to be found in almost 
every one of the numberless editions of the author's works. 



CLEOBULUS. Page 53. 

XaXicer) irapdevos elfil. (Cod. Vat. p. 228. Not inPla- 
nudes.) 

" Imposita erat," says the Commentator, " tumulo Midae eenea 
puellse statua, cui Epigrammatis auctor seternitatem quandam 
promittit." Virgil seems to have had this inscription in his 
eye, when he wrote, 

" In freta dum fluvii current, dum montibus umbrae 

Lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet, 

Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudesque manebunt." 



272 NOTES. 

SIMONIDES. Page 54. 

" Simonides, whose fame, through years 
And ages past, still bright appears, 
Like Hesperus, a star of tears." 

(Moore's Evenings in Greece, p. 70.) 

Lyric Fragments. 

I. Ov£e yap ot irporepov ttot kneXoyTO, (Stob. Flor. 
Tit. 96.) 

" Ne Deorum quidem filios, priscos illos heroas, vitam molestiis 
et periculis immunem egisse." (Jacobs.) So, in the fragment of an 
Elegy ascribed to Callinus, (as rendered by H. N. Coleridge) — 

" Once to die is man's doom—rush, rush on to the fight ! 
He cannot escape, though his blood were Jove's own. 
For a while let him cheat the shrill arrow by flight, 
Fate will catch him at last in his chamber alone." 

II. " AvBpuiros kh>v, fir)7rore <pr\ar\s 

ottl yevrjareTai, 
fir]^ avSpa Ihojv, oaaov kooeirai 
j(poyov, d)Ke?a yap ovSe ravvwrepvyov fivlas 

ovtu)s a fAeracrTCiffis. (Stob. Tit. 93.) 

Part of a Threne, or Dirge, according to the Commentator, 

composed on the occasion of the death of Scopas, a noble Thes- 

salian, alluded to by Cicero (De Oratore, ii. 86.) and Quintilian 

(xi. 2.) 

Compare with this passage, Theognis, v. 963. Aty* yet?, 
UQTi vonfict' 

" Swift as a thought the flowing moments roll. 
Swift as a racer speeds to reach the goal." 

(Bland, p. 186.) 



SIMONIDES. 2/3 

III. Ylavra yap fiiau licreTrai dacnrXrjra Xapvfldiv, 
at fxeyaXat dperal kcu 6 irXovros. 

(Stob. Flor. Tit. 117.) 

IV. IIoXXos yap fjfuv els reBvavai %p6vos' 

Zuifxev ft dpiQfiai 

iravpa Kaicuis eVea. (Id. Tit. 122.) 

Biorrjs fikv yap 

yjpovos eon fipaicvs' fcpv(j>deis ft biro yijs 

Keirai dvrjrds tov diravra )(p6vov. (Id. Tit. 120.) 

V. 'Ore XapvaKi kv daidaXey avefjios. 

We owe the preservation of this exquisite fragment to Diony- 
sius of Halicarnassus. The mythological incident to which it 
refers is too well known to need illustration. 

VI. Tov Kal aVetjOefftoe 
nuTtoVT opvides virep KetyaXds, dvh ft 
l^dves opdot Kvaveov e£ vdaros dXXovro ; 

fcaXq. avv doily* (Tzetzes, Chil. i. 310.) 

Compare Apollonius Rhodius, i. 569. 
Toic7 Se (pogfAifov, &c. 

" From the deep 
The fishes upward sprang ; the small and vast 
Of all the scaly tribe leap'd from beneath 
In bounds, and followed through the liquid track." (Elton.) 

VII. 'Os hovpl irdiras viKacre viovs 
Zivdevra j3aXojv 'Avavpov virep, 
iroXvfioTpvos e£ TwX/cov. 

ovtu) yap 'Ofirfpos j^e Jjrrjai'xppos 
aetae Xaois. (Athen. iv. p. 172.) 

n5 



274 NOTES. 

There is a small fragment of Stesichorus which appears to be 
alluded to in this passage — 

a,K0VTi Is vlxxasv ~Mi7\zot.y%o$, — 

which a Commentator on that fragment supposes to have refer- 
ence to the funeral games celebrated by the Argonauts in honour 
of Pelias. Anauros is the name of a river near the city of Iolcos, 
mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius as connected with an incident 
in the life of Jason. 

XetjasQioto pU&^a, xtcov W nooolv ' Avxvgov. (i. 90 
" What time adventurous Jason, brave and bold, 
Anauros pass'd, high swoln with winter's flood, 
He left one sandal rooted in the mud." (Fawkes.) 

VIII. TVs kcv ali'{]ff€ie y<3 Triavi'os 
Aivdov vaerav KXeofiovXov, &c. 

(Diog. Laert. i. 56.) 
A parody on Cleobulus. (See before, p. 53.) 

IX. 'Yyiaiveiv fxev apiarov avdpl dvrjTw. 

(Stob. Flor. ci. 550.) 

This is also cited by Athenseus (lib. xv. p. 694.) among the 

ancient Scolia of uncertain authors. Some have ascribed it to 

Epicharmus; but Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom, iv. p. 573.) and, 

after him, Theodoret (Serm. ii. p. 63.) claim it for Simonides. 

X. Tis yap adoi'&s arep 
dvaraiv joios tcoQelvos ; 
rj 7roia Tvpavvis ; 

deuv £a\ix)Tbs alwv. (Athen. xii. p. 512.) 

XI. 'AvdpojKojy oXiyav juev Kcipros. (Plutarch, t. ii. p. 107.) 



S1MONIDES. 275 

XII. 'Eoti tls \6yos ray 'Aperav vaietv. (Clem. Alex. 
Strom, iv. 585.) 

Compare the sublime passage in Hesiod (Works and Days, 
Book i.) 

T% B' et£S7% it (tar to Ssot. 

" Where Virtue dwells, the Gods have plac'd before 
The dropping sweat that springs from every pore ; 
And, ere the feet can reach her bright abode, 
Long, rugged, steep th' ascent, and rough the road ; 
The ridge once gain'd, the path so hard of late 
Runs easy on, and level to the gate." (Elton.) 

So Spenser, F. Q. 

" Before her throne high Jove doth sweat ordain, 
And weary watchings ever to abide ; " &c. 

And so again the author of the Tablet of Cebes, as followed 
by Dr. Lowth in the Judgement of Hercules. 

'* Honour rewards the brave and bold alone ; -^ 

She scorns the timorous, indolent, and base : 
Danger and toil stand stern before her throne, 

And guard — so Jove commands — the fatal place. 
Who seek her must the mighty cost sustain, 
And pay the price of Fame — Labour, and Care, and Pain." 

XIII. Twv kv QepfiOTTuXats davovriov, (Diod. Sic. 
xi. 11.) 

The fragment of a Hymn to the memory of the Spartans who 
perished at Thermopylae ; and the first in a long series of the 
remains of this patriotic poet, expressly consecrated to the cause 
of Grecian freedom and independence. His imitators in the 
same strain are numerous ; and almost to the latest hour of 
Grecian poetry, the glorious incidents of the Persian war were 
the frequent and favourite subjects of celebration, with very 
little variety either of expression or mode of treatment. It may 



276 NOTES. 

be worth remarking, that Simonides, to the writers of the Au- 
gustan sera, stood, in point of date, at about the same distance 
as Chaucer to ourselves. His Hymn on Thermopylae may be 
regarded as the Chevy Chaco of Grecian poetry. 

Epigrams. 

I. Ti3y U gt' dvdpwirw. (Cod. Vat. 288. Steph. 204.) 
The following title is prefixed to this Epigram in the Vatican 

Copy. " Upon the Greeks who made Tegea free." It was their 
valour that saved the city from being burned by the enemy, and 
its smoke ascending to the clouds. It is not very certain to what 
particular occasion, in history, the poem has relation. 

II. O'lSe TpirjKOfTlOL. 

In the collection of Planudes (Steph. 205.) without the name 
of an author. In the Vatican MS. inscribed, " The author un- 
certain ; some say, Simonides." The event to which it alludes 
is one of those most strikingly characteristic of an age of border 
chivalry. See Herodotus, i. 82, and compare with this the ac- 
count given by Sallust of the death of the soldiers of Catiline : 
" Nam fere, quern quisque pugnando locum ceperat, eum amissa 
anima cor pore tegebat." Adrastus was king of Argos, and the 
only one of the seven confederate princes who escaped — and 
that by a disgraceful flight — from the Theban slaughter. The 
sarcasm of this allusion must have been keenly felt by the Ar- 
give nation. 

III. 'II fjiey 'Adrjyaioiffi <pou)S yeved\ ijiix 'ApiffTO* 
yetrioy 'iTrjrapxpv KTeive, kcli 'Apfiodios. 

(Hephsest. Enchir. 40.) 

IV. Toy Tpayo-Kovv e/j.€lla,va,Tov Aptcaoa^roy KaraMirfwy, 

rov fJi€T 'Adrjraiojy, (Trrjaaro Mt\rtadr]s. 

(Steph. 336.) 
See Herodotus, vi. 105. p. 486. 



SIMONIDES. 277 

V. '£2 t,eiv ayyeXeiv AaKe^ai/iorloLS ort rrjde 

Keifxeda, ruts Keiywv prjjxaai Tretdo/jievoi. 

(Cod. Vat. 244. ) 
See Herodotus, vii. p. 612. And Cicero, Tusc. Qusest. i. 42, 
where it is to be found thus rendered — 

" Die, hospes, Spartae, nos te hie vidisse jacentes, 
Dum Sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur." 

VI. Myrjfia rode /cXeivoTo Mey tor/a. (Cod. Vat. 313. 
Steph. 511.) 

On Megistias the Soothsayer, who, after having predicted the 
event of the conflict at Thermopylae, refused to accept his dis- 
mission, and died fighting by the side of Leonidas. (See again 
Herodotus, vii. 221.) 

VII. EZ to KaXws Qviweiv. (Cod. Vat. 244. Steph. 200.) 
Compare Herodotus, i. 30. 

VIII. "Aafiecrrov icXeos otte. (Cod. Vat. 244. Steph. 200.) 
Compare Horace, III. ii. 21. "Virtus recludens," &c. 

" To him who not deserves to die, 

She shows the paths which heroes trod, 
Then bids him boldly tempt the sky, 
Spurn off his mortal clay, and rise a God." 

IX. AW virep 'EMavwr. (Steph. 512.) 

From Athenaeus, xiii. p. 573, who relates, on the authority of 
Theopompus and Timaeus, that, during the Persian war, the 
courtesans of Corinth offered supplications to Venus for the 
safety of Greece, in remembrance of which, at the termination 
of the war, the Corinthians dedicated to the goddess a painted 
tablet with this inscription. 

X. Ar/juo/cotros rpiros rjp^e. 

From Plutarch, ii. 869, who inveighs against Herodotus, for 



278 NOTES. 

having (viii. 46.) made mention of this brave action of Democri- 
tus the Naxian admiral, without subjoining this Epigram. 

XI. '£2 %eiv evvdpov. 

Also from Plutarch, ii. 870, where it is given without the 
name of an author, which is supplied by an allusion to it in Dio 
Chrysostom, Or. xxxvii. p. 459. See the account of this great 
battle, Herodotus, vii. 89. 

XII. Ovtos 'Adeijjidt'TOv tceivov Td<pos, ov 3ia (3ov\as 

'EWas eXevdepias djutpedeTO GTecparov. 

(Cod. Vat. 257.) 
From Plutarch, t. ii. p. 870, where it is cited anonymously, 
but ascribed to Simonides by Dio Chrysostom, Or. xxxvii. p. 459. 
See the Commentators on Herodotus, 662, with respect to the 
influence here supposed to have been attached to the counsels 
of the Athenian admiral. 

XIII. 'E£ ov y Evpunav 'Aatas Six<x- tovtos eveijie. (Cod. 
Vat. 250.) 

From Diodorus Siculus, xi. 62, and Aristides, iii. 260, in 
which places it is exhibited with many variations, happily re- 
conciled by Dorville (Chariton, 628.). It records the victory ob- 
tained by Cimon the Athenian on the coast of Cyprus over the 
entire naval force of the Persians, which enabled him to pene- 
trate into Pamphylia, and effect a second conquest over their 
land forces assembled on the banks of the Eurymedon. But, as 
these events took place after the death of the elder Simonides, it 
follows that, if the name of the author be rightly assigned to the 
verses in which they are severally recorded, they must belong 
to the nephew. 

From the remarkable expression used in the first verse of the 
Epigram above cited, it has been supposed, that the author meant 
to allude to the tradition of a deluge by which the continents 
of Asia and Europe were torn asunder, having been previously 



SIMONIDES. 279 

united ; but the words may mean to imply no more than (peri- 
phrastically) "from the commencement of the world," or "from 
time immemorial." As in the following example from the An- 
thologia Latina, t. i. p. 122. 

'*.. A sole exoriente supra Mseoti' paludes 

Nemo est, qui factis me sequiparare queat." 

XIV. Otie irap MpvfietiovTi. (Cod.Vat.245.Steph.201.) 
This Epigram is the sequel of the former. The Sepulchre of 

the Athenians who perished on the occasion here referred to, 
was still to be seen outside the walls of Athens in the time of 
Pausanias. 

XV. TJj^e Trore arepvoiai. (Cod. Vat. 275.) 

XVI. T#a rale TTToXefioio. (Cod. Vat. 141. Steph. 441.) 

XVII. Ovtu) tol ixeXLa. (Cod. Vat. 150. Steph. 442.) 
" It was the common opinion that Jupiter was the first cause 

of all sorts of divination ; it was he that had the books of fate, 

and out of them revealed either more or less, as he pleased, to 

inferior daemons ; for which reason he was surnamed Panom- 

phcBus, as Eustathius tells us in his comment on Homer, Iliad, 

&, 250. 

" there, at the holy fane, 

To mighty Jove was the glad victim slain — 

To Jove, from whom all divination comes, 

And oracles inspir'd unriddle future dooms." 

(Potter's Antiq. i. 309.) 

XVIII. XaipeT ctpLarrjes 7ro\ejuov. (Cod. Vat. 244. 
Steph. 201.) 

Supposed to have been written on the Athenian youth who 
perished at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war. If so, 
it must be ascribed to the younger Simonides. 



280 NOTES. 

XIX. A/jo0vos etyrjdtjfier virb 7rrv^'. (Steph. 205.) 
The revolt of Eubcea from the Athenian yoke took place about 

sixteen years before the commencement of the Peloponnesian 
war. If the present Epigram be supposed to have reference to 
that period, the elder Simonides may be entitled to its author- 
ship ; but this is doubtful. 

XX. 'Avhphs apiaTevaavTOS, (Steph. 511.) 

From Thucydides, lib. vi. 59 ; where he relates that Hippias 
gave his daughter Archedice in marriage to ^Eantides, son of 
Hippoclus, tyrant of Lampsacus, where was her monument 
bearing the above inscription. 

XXI. 'Kpepl 7rai>de\KTeipa. (Cod. Vat. 211. Steph. 276.) 

XXII. OvTos'AvaKpeiovra. (Cod. Vat. 211. Steph. 276.) 
No ancient poet was ever so much cherished by the Epigram- 
matists as Anacreon ; and it must be admitted that there is very 
little variety in the mode of treatment of the subject. 

XXIII. Ol fiev t/xe icrelvavres ojuotW avTirvypiev, 

Zev, tEj&vi* ol 2' Wo yav Sevres, ovaivro /3/ov. 
This Epigram, in the Vat. MS. p. 219, is inscribed, " Simo- 
nides, having discovered a naked corpse lying in a certain island, 
and having interred it, wrote as follows." The epithet given to 
Jupiter, Shiog (which ought perhaps to have been preserved in 
the translation,) is supposed to imply that the murder was com- 
mitted by the hands of those who ought rather to have per- 
formed the rites of hospitality. 

XXIV. Ovros 6 tov Keloio 2tju<im'c)ou eari ffaioTr)p, 

6s koi redi'rjibs ^wpt ct7recWe %dpiv. 
Concerning the incident to which this Epigram bears allusion, 
Cicero writes (De Divinatione, i. 27) : " Simonides, having found 
the body of some unknown person washed up by the sea, and 



SIMONIDES. 281 

buried it, and being afterwards about to embark, was warned, by 
a vision of the dead man appearing to him, to postpone his in- 
tention, lest he should suffer shipwreck. He returned in obe- 
dience to the warning, and those who sailed without him pe- 
rished as was foretold." The same story is related by Valerius 
Maximus, with the addition, that he composed this Epigram in 
commemoration of his rescue. 

XXV. IloXXa (jiaym'f icai 7roXXa ttiwv, kcu 7roXXa ko.k' 

€t7TWV, 

Avdpu)7rovs f Kelfiai Tip-OKpewv 'Pottos. 
Athenseus, lib. x. p. 415, mentions Timocreon, a poet and 
athleta of Rhodes, among the great eaters and drinkers of his 
day, and gives this Epigram as his authority. Diogenes Laertius 
entertains us with the account of a dispute between him and Si- 
monides, which probably gave rise to this stroke of satire at his 
expense. 

XXVI. f O ire Afynjrpos. (Cod. Vat. 379. Steph. 373.) 
In the Vatican MS. this Epigram is ascribed to Antagoras of 

Rhodes. The circumstance of Xenocles, of whom nothing else 
is recorded, being himself mentioned as a Rhodian, may seem to 
strengthen this testimony. The road on which this bridge was 
built was probably that leading to Eleusis. 

XXVII. Boihovf,v\r)T P ls. (Cod. Vat. 110. Steph. 450.) 
This, and the following Epigram, are also of doubtful parent- 
age. Some ascribe them to Hedylus ; others to Asclepiades, in- 
stead of Simonides. The allusions they present are obvious. 

XXVIII. E%>a» i«u 9afr. (Cod. Vat. 110. Steph. 104.) 

XXIX. 'H erev kui <{>di}i£vas. (Steph. 512.) 

The Anthology contains abundance of Epigrams on dogs and 
other animals, as well as on the various implements of the chase. 



282 NOTES. 

They are frequently tiresome from repetition, but sometimes ex- 
hibit points of diversity which render them deserving of note. 

XXX. ^wdpTas [iev jSaaLXijes kjioi nctTepes Km ahektyoi* 
(Cod. Vat. 610.) 

The name of this victorious lady was Cynisca, who obtained 
the prize in the chariot race, Olymp. 87, after the death of her 
father Achidamus, king of Sparta. From this date it is evident 
that the poem is falsely ascribed to Simonides. Her brother 
was the renowned Agesilaus. Xenophon, Plutarch, and Pausa- 
nias, severally bear witness to the occurrence. 

XXXI. Iipa^LreXr]s ov eiracrye. (Steph. 331.) 
The first line should have been printed, 

"Well has the sculptor what he felt express'd." 

Athenreus (lib. xiii. p. 591.)> speaking of the celebrated Phryne, 
records that Apelles painted her in the character of Venus 
emerging out of the sea ; and that Praxiteles the sculptor, who 
was a favoured lover, made her the model of his statue of the 
goddess at Cnidos, and also caused these verses to be inscribed 
to her honour on the base of his statue of Cupid in the theatre ; 
not, as it seems, meaning to imply that Praxiteles was himself 
the author of the Epigram, though the dates of history are in- 
consistent with its being ascribed to Simonides. 

XXXII. 'Heplr) Tepdveta. (Cod. Vat. 286.) 
Geraneia is the name of a rock or promontory, situated on the 

coast between Megara and Corinth, whence Ino, in the fable, 
precipitated herself into the sea, together with her infant Meli- 
certa, when flying from the madness of Athamas. It seems to 
have been a place of evil repute to seamen. 

XXXIII. Sw/m fxh dMocW/. (Cod. Vat. 288. Steph. 
256.) 



SIMONIDES. 



283 



An Epitaph on one Clisthenes, who perished by shipwreck in 
the Euxine on his passage to Chios. 

XXXIV. Aldus kcli KXeodaiiov. (Cod. Vat. 288.) 

The person here celebrated appears to have fallen into an am- 
buscade of hostile Thracians, and to have preferred death to flight, 
which was in his power. 

XXXV. Tovs <T dirb Tvpprjvwv dupoBivia <j>oi(3a) dyovras 

ev TreXayos, fxia vavs, els rdtyos eKrepiae. 
Supposed, by Schneider, to have been inscribed to the memory 
of some young Messenians, who, being sent to Rhegium with spoils 
of war, as an offering so Apollo, were wrecked on the voyage. 

XXXVI. A? alvovaePapeia. (Cod.Vat.289. Steph.261.) 
®fj TroreTifjiapxos. (Cod. Vat. 288. Steph.256.) 

XXXVII. Ovdev ev dvBpwiroiai. (Stob. Flor. xcvi. 528.) 
This fragment of an Elegy, which there seems no reason for 

hesitating to believe the work of Simonides, would perhaps have 
been more properly left to be placed by the side of a still more 
considerable fragment, a translation of which by Mr. Bland 
was inserted, p. 184 of the former edition, but is now reserved 
for the series intended to embrace the Gnomic and larger Ele- 
giac pieces. Jacobs, who has omitted the one and retained the 
other, without assigning a reason, is the only authority for pur- 
suing the same course in the present instance. The melancholy 
reflexions which the verses are calculated to inspire need no 
comment ; but they are themselves a commentary on a trans- 
cendently beautiful passage in Homer — the speech of Glaucus 
to Diomed, Iliad, vi. the first line of which is incorporated in 
them. Compare also Horace, Ars Poet. 60. " Ut sylvae foliis — M 
" As when the forest, with the bending year, 
First sheds the leaves which earliest appear, 



284 NOTES. 

So an old age of words maturely dies, 
Others new-born in youth and vigour rise. 

We, and our noblest works, to Fate must yield." 

XXXVIII. Tj7 pd nor OvXvfxiroio. (Athen. iii. 125.) 

Athenseus, in the passage above cited, commenting on the 
custom of mixing snow with wine, (the ancient substitute for 
icing it,) relates that Simonides, one hot summer's day, being 
at a banquet where the attendant happened to assign to him, in 
distributing it among the guests, too small a portion of the 
commodity, uttered these verses as an impromptu. The cod elud- 
ing couplet does not sufficiently express the occasion. 

XXXIX. Xeipepiriv viferoio. (Cod. Vat. 180.) 

This singular poem is ascribed by Reiske to the younger Si- 
monides ; but the dates will not accord even with this supposi- 
tion, as the sacred rites of the Galli, or Priests of Cybele, did 
not penetrate into Greece before the 125th Olympiad. There 
was another Simonides, of Magnesia, who lived under Antio- 
chus the Great (Olymp. 139.)* and wrote a history of the acts 
of that sovereign, who may very possibly have been the author ; 
and the same subject has been treated in subsequent epigrams 
by Alcseus the Messenian, Dioscorides, and Antipater of Sidon. 



BACCHYLIDES. 

I. QprjTols ovk avdaiperoi 

ovt oXfios, ovt u.Kajjnrros , 'Apr]s i 

ovre TrajJKfidepffis Gravis' 

dW €in\pifnrTet vetyos 

ciWot en aXkav ya,v 

a 7rdvdu)pos Aha, (Stobaeus, Eel. Phys. i. 9.) 



BACCHYLIDES. 285 

Thus rendered by Grotius : 

" Non affluentis magna vis pecuniae, 
Non Martis incerti alea, 
Non civium tumultus implacabilis 

Sunt spontis in nostra manu. 
Sed parca nubes, nunc in hanc terram, suas, 
Et nunc in illam depluit." 

II. Els opos, ju/a fipoToiolv koriv evTV^ias bdos. (Stob, 
Flor. 106.) 

Thus Grotius : 

" Unum iter felicitatis, unus homini terminus, 
Tristibus curis soluto corde vitam ducere. 
At quibus mentem perurunt mille sollicitudines 
Anxiae semper futuri, nee quiescunt noctibus, 
His gravi labore pectus flagrat, et nil proficit." 

Compare Horace, ii. 16. " Laetus in praesens animus/' — 
" He who would happy live to-day, 
Must laugh the present ills away, 

Nor think of woes to come ; 
For come they will, or soon or late, 
Since mix'd at best is man's estate 

By Heaven's eternal doom." (Warren Hastings.) 

III. Avdla fiev yap Xidos. (Stob. xi. 136.) 

" Aurum Lydius indicat 
Signo non dubio lapis : 
Humanam sapientiam, 
Virtutenque notat simul 
Victrix inclita Veritas." (Grotius.) 

These words of Bacchylides were found by Cayley engraven 
on an ancient stone. (Recueil d'Antiq. torn. v. 134.) ( ' 



286 NOTES. 

IV. QvaroiGL fir) (f>vvat tyepHrrov, &c. (Stob. xcvi. 528. 
Grotius, 405.) 

V. "OXfiios J tlvl Beds. (Stob. ci. 549.) 

Felix cui sors ista bonorum 

Contigit almo munere divum, 

Florentem opibus degere vitam ; 

Nam nihil omni ex parte beatum est. (Grotius, 424.) 

VI. Tkrei de re QvaroTaiv JLlpiivr) fieydXa. (Stob. liii. 
369. Grotius, 209.) 

Many passages of ancient authors readily occur to the mind as 
analogous to this beautiful fragment ; but the images it presents 
are perhaps nowhere else so closely assembled as by Shakspeare, 
in the opening of Richard the Third. 
" Now are our brows crown' d with victorious wreaths," &c. 

Elton also has published a translation of this fragment in his 
Specimens of the Classic Poets. 

VII. At at tckos afierepor, /*et£W y 7rev6eTv 

e(j)dyr} Kaxov, dtyQeyroiaiv "taov. (Stob. cxxi. 610.) 
" Majus luctu venit nobis 
O nate, malum; farique vetat." (Grotius, 503.) 
Nothing can exceed the exquisite simplicity of this short Epi- 
taph. But has not Grotius missed its meaning ? 

VIII. YXvkcV avayKa cevo/jera. kvXiku}'. (Athen. ii. 39.) 

Here again Mr. Elton has preceded us — 

" The goblet's sweet compulsion moves 
The soften'd mind to melting loves," &c. 

This " sweet compulsion "—the necessity of drinking — appears 
to have been invested— like Pitho, the Goddess Persuasion — 
with the attributes of a divinity. Thus Plautus (Rudens ii. 3.)— 



BACCHYLIDES. 287 

" Perit potando opinor. 
Neptunus magnis poculis hac nocte eum invitavit. 
Credo, Hercle, Anancseo datum hoc quod biberet." 
Ovid— 

" Vina parant animos, faciuntque celeribus aptos." 
Horace — 

" Spes donare novas largus, amaraque 
Cur arum eluere efficax" — 

and again, still more remarkably, "Quid non Ebrietas designat?" 
besides many others among the ancient poets, — may well be 
cited in illustration of the passage ; but none who comes nearer 
to it, in the true spirit of lyric enthusiasm, than Captain Morris, 
when he points to those 

" Rich worlds, that bright in prospect lie 
To him that's half-seas over." 

IX. 'Ecn7 o e7ri Xcilvov ovlbv. (Athen. iv. 178.) 

This fragment embodies a proverbial expression, of which the 
sense, peculiar to an age of simple hospitality, is that a good 
man need no invitation to a good man's feast, Here, Hercules 
is addressing himself, on his arrival, to Ceyx, king of Trachis — 
a city of Thessaly, which afterwards witnessed the hero's death, 
on the neighbouring mountain (Eta. 

X. Ov (jour irapeari aiofxar. (Athen. xi. 500.) 

XI. Ovx eCpas epyov, ovo auftoXds. (Dion. Hal. torn. v. 
p. 30. Reiske.) 

Itonia was an appellation given to Minerva among the Bce- 
otians. 

XII. <&affG) f.l€V TTMTTOV KV()OS €^€LV ap€TCLV' 

7t\ovtos £e Kcil deiXolair avQpwirwv ofxiXel. 

(Plutarch, ii. 36.) 



288 NOTES. 

XIV. Ol fiev dSfj.r]Tes aeuceXtW vovffiov elal 
Kcil avaiTioi, ovhev avBpunoLS IxreXot. 

(Clem. Alex. Strom, v. 715.) 

Bacchylides had probably in sight that passage of Homer 
concerning the Gods — 

Ov yx(> oitov 'ilovtx , ov wiuovv xTOoira ohou' 

TovuiK d'jotifcovii; liai kou o&Qxvxtoi xahswreu. (II. v. 341.) 

And Jacobs accordingly proposes the substitution of the word 
dvotipot for stitxiTioi, in the principal fragment. Anacreon, also, 
comparing the Cicada to the Gods, uses the same expression — 

OXidoV H QiOlg 0(4.010$. 

" Free from nature's woes and pains, 
Free from flesh, or blood-filPd veins, 
Happy thing ! thou seem'st to me 
Almost a little God to be ! " (Bourne.) 

See, before, Cowley's imitation of the same passage. 

XIV. 'Erepos 3' e£ erepov ao(pbs 

to re 7ra\cu to re vvv. ovhe yap pdffTOV 
appi'iTOJv €7T€(i)v 7rv\as elevpelv* 

(Clem. Alex. Strom, v. 687.) 

This is also proverbial, and has its parallel in the Wisdom of 
Solomon. 

XV. Kovpa UdXXavTos. (Cod. Vat. 201.) 

The Goddess N/»jj, Victory, is named by Hesiod as the daughter 
of Pallas (Pallantis) by Styx, who likewise bore to him Zelus, 
Cratos and Bia. 

" Styx, Ocean Nymph, with Pallas blending love, 
Bare Victory, whose feet are beautiful 



scoLrA. 289 

In palaces ; and Zeal, and Strength, and Force, 

Illustrious children. Not apart from Jove 

Their mansion is ; nor is there seat nor way 

But he before them in his glory sits 

Or passes forth : and where the Thunderer is 

Their place is found for ever." (Elton.) 

XVI. Evdrifios tov vqbv en aypov. (Cod. Vat. 150. 
Steph. 419.) 

The Westerly Winds — Zephyr and Favonius — were accounted 
(as we are told by Columella, ii. 20.) peculiarly favourable to 
the swelling of the grain. 



SCOLIA. Page 81. 

By way of Appendix to what has been said in the text as to 
the meaning and origin of this much-canvassed term, let us be 
allowed to borrow a few words from the learned author of a 
recent article in the Edinburgh Review (No. CXII.) on " Greek 
Banquets." 

"The origin of that name (Scolia), which is at least as old as 
the time of Pindar, is one of the most curious of these questions. 
Without entering, however, into an examination of all the strange 
etymologies that have been proposed, we declare for the opinion 
of Dicsearchus, the pupil of Aristotle, who, living at a time when 
the amusement was still in vogue, and having probably joined 
in many a bout of it in his day, speaks from the first impression 
of a current belief with more authority than can ever be assigned 
to etymological guesses. According to him this species of catch 
was called Scolion, 'crooked' or 'oblique', from the irregular 
and interrupted order in which it was sung by those of the com- 
pany, wherever they might be placed, who were skilful enough 
to take a part, and who had either their memories stored with 
the favourite pieces, or readiness enough to strike in with ex- 



290 NOTES. 

temporaneous effusions of similar argument to the ditty of the 
first performer. To preserve an agreement in the sense — and, if 
possible, likewise in the measure — throughout each series, was 

accounted a trial of ability Some of the noblest breathings 

of impassioned minstrelsy, of which the Greek language can 
boast, appeared under this convivial form. We know no poetry, 
for instance, in any tongue, that excels in glorious strength and 
simplicity, the celebrated lines in honour of the slayers of Hip- 
parchus. Their author, who deserved to be immortal, is not 
certainly known ; but though chronology laughs at the error of 
those who have ascribed them to Alcseus, they are not unworthy 
of his 'golden plectrum' and 'threatening strings.' " 

Without indulging ourselves in any greater length of quota- 
tion, we willingly refer to the latter pages of the article in ques- 
tion for much valuable information and suggestion on the same 
subject, together with very spirited versions of three of the princi- 
pal Scolia, of which different versions have already been printed 
in this collection. 

I. 'Eyovra oel r olov kcu lodoKOV (jtaperpav 

areiyeir nori (jx.ora kclkov, 
ttiotov yap ovfiev ykwaoa Eta arofiaTOS XaXeT, 
^i^ofjivdov e*xpvGa Kpctdlr) vor}}ia. 

(Diog. Laert. i. 49.) 

II. *2ivveTwv eartv avdpwv 
npiv yeveodai to. Ivayeprj, 
7rpovorjffaL oirtos firj yevrjraL' 
avdpeitov £e, yevo\ieva. ev deodai. 

(Diog. Laert. i. 48.) 

III. KoToioiv cipeffKe naffiv, ev ttoXci ake fxevr)S m 
TrXelffrav yap eyei %apiv, avQalr\s he rpoiros 
iroWaKi p\a/3epa.v e^eKa^ev arav. 

(Diog. Laert. i. 85.) 



SCOLIA, 291 

" If the city offend you, leave it ; but, if you wish to remain 
in it, make it your study to please all men, and conform your 
life to the habits of the citizens;" — a precept which, though 
Theognis disputes the possibility of complying with it, saying, 
'AaroTffiv ft oinrb) naaiv a^eiv dvyafiat — 
ovtie yap 6 Zevs ou0' viov iravTas ctj/^avet 
ovt ave^iov, 
Euripides adopts, by putting in the mouth of Medea — (v. 222.) 
" A stranger with peculiar heed 
Should form him to the temper of the state ; 
Nor would I praise the native, who, through pride, 
And shallow thought, is to his citizens 
Wayward and insolent." (Potter.) 

That the precept, however difficult of strict performance, was 
one not unworthy of a sage politician, having reference to the 
condition of Greece parcelled out into so many hostile interests, 
is manifest to any one who considers its history. 

IV. Ek yrjs ^pji) naTtSe'iv 7r\6ov, 

el tis dvvcuTO, Kal Tra\aixr]v eypc 

ewei $e k kv 7t6vto) yevrjTai, 

rw irapeovTi rpexeiv avayKt], (Athen. XV. 694.) 
The reference to the " Suave mari magno " of Lucretius from 
this passage is too obvious to require to be noticed. 

V. Et0' e^rju biroios tis r\v ckchttos, 

to ffTrjdos dieXovT, eVetra tov vovv 
etct^ovra, KkeiaavTa iraXiv 

avZpa ty'Ckov vo/Jii^eiv a^oXw 4>pevL (Ibid.) 

This little piece, which is here exhibited according to the 
metrical arrangement suggested by Hermann, contains the sen- 
timent which is conveyed in the well-known apologue of Momus 
o 2 



292 NOTES. 

reprehending Prometheus for not having placed a door of en- 
trance to every human breast. 

VI. At at Aefipv^ptov 7rpoZo(reTaipor, 
o'lovs avdpas a.7roj\ecras, nayeaBcu 
ciyadovs re, ko.1 evTrarpidas , 

o? tot klei^av, o'Iojv 7ra.T€pu)v Kvprjffav. 

(Athen. xv. 695.) 

Leipsydrion was seated on Mount Parnethus, where the tribe 

of Alcniseonidse, with some other Athenian exiles, took refuge 

during the reign of Hippias, and where they were routed with 

a signal slaughter. 

VII. 'Ey fivpTOv k\cl(ji to fytyos (pop{]<ru). (Ibid.) 

" Amid the doubts and contradictions of historians and phi- 
losophers — Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, — it is difficult not to 
believe that the action thus commemorated, though prompted, 
perhaps, like the revolt of Tell, by private injury, was an example 
of that rude justice, whose ambiguous morality is forgiven for its 
signal public benefits. Something of greatness and true splendour 
there must have been about a deed of which the memory was 
cherished as an heir-loom by the whole Athenian community of 
freemen, and made familiar as household words by constant 
convivial celebration. Not until the decline of Attic liberty, 
and the approach of universal degradation, did a comic writer 
presume to sneer at the lay of Harmodius as wearing out of 
fashion. It was an ill sign of the poet to indulge in such a sneer ; 
it was a worse sign of the people to endure it." (From the 
Edinburgh Review, in the Article last noticed.) 

VIII. Iw Ilccy ApKalias 

ixeleiov K\eevvas. (Ibid. 694.) 

Brunck supposes this to have been a song of triumph for a 



scolia. 293 

victory obtained in the Panathena'ic games, the reward of which 
was a wreath of olive plucked from the trees which surrounded 
the temple of Pandrosos ; and, in favour of this hypothesis, he 
contends against Schneider, who had been at some pains to esta- 
blish a claim to its authorship on the part of Pindar, supposing 
it to have been composed in honour of Pan for having aided the 
Athenians on the field of Marathon. Hermann proposes the 
following metrical arrangement, which is in accordance with 
his general theory on the subject of Scolia. 

yshozGiicts, a FLccVy \t spoils 
suip^oavaxtg doibotig Ks^x^nptuo;. 

IX. IlaXXas TptToyeveia, dvaaa ABavd. 

(Athen. xv. 694.) 

X. Ywb Karri Xido) ffKopmos, 

W 'reap', v7rodverai' 0pa£ev fxrj ae (3d\y. 
Tto 3' a<f>avel 7ras eVerou do\os. (Ibid. 695.) 

" Ilgen, in the Preface to his edition of Scolia (Jense, 1798,) 
discovers no less than nine different classes into which the ex- 
tant poems of this sort may be distributed : the Satirical — the 
Amatory— the Historical — the Mythic — the Precatory — the Ethi- 
cal — the Political — the Eulogistic — the Potatory. Under the 
sixth, and most numerous, division (the Ethical,) he includes 
one which we may cite, to show how the Greeks contrived to 
give, in the shape of an apologue, the spirit of our well-known, 
vernacular, objurgatory criticism of Pot upon Kettle. 

'O KcC^KlVOS C0(l £<pYl 

XXhSc tov otyiv T^ufiuv' 
ivdv'j tou eTocgov t'ftev, 
koc\ ftij aKQktK <p£oveiv. (Jacobs, 14.) 



294 NOTES. 

" With his claw the snake surprising, 
Thus the crab kept moralizing : — 
' Out upon sidelong turns and graces : 
Straight 's the word for honest paces !' " 

(From the Edinb. Rev. as before.) 

XI. 'Ootis avdpa (f)l\ov fir) Trpohilwaiv, 
jxeyd\r]v eyei Tifiav, ev re (jpoTols 

ev re deotcriv, /car' kfibv vuov. (Athen. xv. 695.) 

This is another specimen of the Ethical class. The next be- 
longs to the Potatory. 

XII. 2ur fioi 7r7v€, crvvr)(3a, avvepa, ovaTetyavr] (j>6pei' 
am' fj.01 fj.aivofj.eyo) fiaiveo, avv olotypovi au)(f>p6vei. 

(Ibid.) 
This is given according to Hermann's metrical system. 

XIII. E'i0e Xvpa KaXr) 
yeroifiav eXecpavrlvr) 

Kai fie KaXol 7ral^es ^>opo1ev 

Aiovvaiov els yopov. 
eW cnrvpov kclXov 
yevoifi-qv fieya yjpvoiov 
koX fie Ka\r) yvrr) (popoir) 

Kadapov Qefievr} voov. (Ibid.) 

This may be considered as the original of many similar 
" wishes " among the amatory poets, at least, if the ode ascribed 
to Anacreon (See before, XX.) be of subsequent date. Compare 
with this No. I. of our Specimens of Uncertain Authors, and 
Shakspeare's sonnet, 

" Air, quoth he, thy cheeks may blow ! 
Air ! would I might triumph so I" 



scolia. 295 

XIV. 'Earn fJLOi ttXovtos fieyas dopv, teal lityos. (Ibid.) 

We cannot omit the opportunity of paying our tribute to the 
decided superiority of the following version over that which has 
been inserted in our own pages. 

" My wealth is here — the sword, the spear, the breast-defending 
shield ; 

With this I plough, with this I sow, with this I reap the field ; 

With this I tread the luscious grape, and drink the blood-red 
wine; 

And slaves around in order wait, and all are counted mine ! 

But he that will not rear the lance upon the battle-field, 
Nor sway the sword, nor stand behind the breast-defending 

shield, 
On lowly knee must worship me, with servile kiss ador'd, 
And peal the cry of homage high, and hail me mighty lord I" 

" Many," observes the translator, " as they read these stanzas, 
will have their thoughts recalled with melancholy pleasure to 
the * Allan-a-dale ' of our own great departed minstrel, whose 
strains — free as they are of all conscious imitation — so often, 
through the force of kindred genius, seem to echo the bold and 
vigorous expression of the finest Grecian poetry/' (Edinb. Rev. 
as before.) 

It must, however, be noticed that the last-cited version is 
founded on a different metrical construction, involving a repe- 
tition of the first couplet in the way of burden, from that ob- 
served by Jacobs. 

XV. Yyieia, 7rpeaj3i(TTa fiaKapiov. (Athen. xv. 702.) 
We are here also met by another version from the same pen 
that dictated the preceding, but cannot afford room at present 
to furnish the means of a comparison, which may be easily made 
by reference to the Article in the Review already so largely 
drawn upon. The author justly remarks, that the original bears 



296 NOTES. 

evidence of a later date than the fragment (See before, No. IX.) 
of Simonides from which it is manifestly taken. 



XVI. '£20e\es w rvcp\e 7rXovre. 

(Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. v. 532.) 

XVII. Apera 7roXv/iO)(0e. 

(Diog. Laert. Vit. Aristot. v. p. 272.) 

In Jacobs's Commentary on this celebrated composition is a 
long discourse on the metrical arrangement, and true reading, 
of the words, into which this is not the place to enter. Her- 
mias, in whose honour it is said to have been written, affords a 
striking, because an early example of elevation to power among 
an unfortunate class of persons whom the customs of Oriental 
despotism have furnished many subsequent instances of exalting 
by similar caprices of fortune. He was, like Mahomed Shah 
of Persia, an eunuch, and at first the slave of Eubulus, whom 
by his cunning counsels he aided in ascending to tyrannic sway 
over the cities of Atarnse and Assus, and whom he afterwards 
succeeded in the same domination. It is recorded of him, that, 
in remembrance of his early misfortune, he never could endure 
that mention should be made in his presence of knives or other 
cutting instruments. 



AESCHYLUS. — EMPEDOCLES. 297 



PART II. 

^ESCHYLUS. Page 93. 

I. Kvaver) /ecu rovcrde. (Cod. Vat. 245. Steph. 201.) 
The authenticity of the two Epigrams ascribed to this great 
poet has already been said to be very questionable. With regard 
to the present, it is not only doubted whether it relates to the 
warriors of Marathon or those of Thermopylae, but it has even 
been conjectured that it belongs to some event of a much more 
recent date, even so low down as the reign of the last Philip of 
Macedon. 

II. Alvxv'kov ~Evcj)opi(t)vos. (From the Life of iEschylus, 
by an unknown ancient writer, prefixed to his Works.) 

It is also alluded to by Athemeus, xiv. 627, and by Plutarch, 
De Exilio, torn. ii. p. 604. 



EMPEDOCLES. Page 95. 

Uavvaviav larpov eniovvixov, AyyJTOv vlbv, 

(pwT AoKkr}Tria%r)v 7rarpls edaxpe Te\a, 
*Os iroWovs /JLoyepolai fiapaivofjievovs Kaf.iciT0i(7i 
(j)(t)ras cnre<TTpe\\jev Uepaefovas OaXafnou. 
We give the entire Epigram for the purpose of doing justice to 
the pun, which consists in the derivation of the name 'Pausanias' 
octo ts TTocvuu rxg dutoig. Diogenes taertius claims it for Em- 
pedocles, contrary to the authority of the Vatican MS., in which 
it is ascribed (greatly to his prejudice) to Simonides. 
o 5 



298 NOTES. 

EUENUS. Page 96. 

I. IToXAoTs arrikeyeiv jj.ev e9os. (Athen. ix. 367.; 

It is also to be found in Stobaeus, Tit. 82, whence Grotius has 
rendered it thus — 

" Sunt quibus is mos est, nullo ut discrimine contra 
Dicere, non etiam dicere recta velint. 
His ego censuerim vetus hoc debere reponi : 

Ilia tibi placeant, dum magis ista mihi. 

Rem bene si dicas, prudentes flectere paucis 

Est tibi ; sunt etenim ductilis ingenii." 

II. Kijp fie (pciyys eVi pi'Qav, 6fj.(os en Kapirocpopi'iffU), 
o<r gov kiriGTreiGcu ffot, rpaye, dvofieru). 

This distich, preserved by the Scholiast on Aristophanes 
(Plut. 1130.), is ascribed in the Vatican MS. to Euenus of As- 
calon. Everybody knows Ovid's version — (Fast. i. 357.) 

"Rode, caper vitem : tamen huic, cum stabis ad aram, 
In tua quod spargi cornua possit, erit." 

Suetonius tells us that Domitian was persuaded to revoke his 
barbarous edict for rooting up the vineyards, chiefly in conse- 
quence of the popular odium excited by the dissemination of the 
following ominous parody. 

Kijf fit (peiyys eurl pi^uv, SfM&s st* Kotq^ro^QQ'/sao), 

oaaou iTFtGTTelffou Ko&ioocgt §vo t u?va>. 
" Though thou.should'st gnaw me to the root, 
Great Caesar ! still enough of fruit 
I bear to sprinkle on thy head, 
When victim to the altar led." 

III. Ardl Kopu, fi€\idp€7TT€. (Cod.Vat.375. Steph.86.) 
The difficulty of finding an appropriate version for this very 

pretty and fanciful Epigram consists in the mythologic identity 
of the Bird (the swallow) and the "Attic Maiden" (Progne) 



EUENUS. 299 

who was metamorphosed into that animal. This fable was so 
familiar to Grecian ears that they suffered no violence in the 
human appellation being transferred to the brute representative ; 
but the transfusion into the English idiom is unavoidably at- 
tended with a degree of harshness, unless accompanied by an 
explanation which destroys its effect. It might indeed have been 
converted to "Attic Songstress/' or "Attic Minstrel ;" but 
this would have been entirely to abandon the allusion. On the 
other hand, the single epithet pitTit&gsTTTe, which Brodseus ren- 
ders, paraphrastically, "delicatis nutritam cibis," and which 
Jacobs conjectures to have reference merely to the sweetness of 
voice of the bird which is thus addressed, we have ventured 
rathar to ascribe to the diet on which it may be supposed to be 
nourished — namely, the wild thyme of Mount Hymettus, so ce- 
lebrated as the material from which its honey was gathered. 
The tone of the swallow's voice is surely anything but sweet or 
musical ; and accordingly it is fitly designated as noisy, or prat- 
tling, rather than praised as melodious. Its domestic qualities 
were, probably, those which so endeared this bird to the an- 
cients ; and the attachment which they constantly appear to bear 
towards it, tends to excite a reciprocity of feeling in our minds 
towards themselves. 

IV. Beivoi, Trjv irepiPtoTov. (Cod.Vat. 367. Steph.97.) 
We do not understand why the allusion to the immortality of 

Homer's divine poem, conveyed by the epithet xxKkuuw, as ap- 
plied to the gates of Troy, should be designated by Jacobs as 
" satis frigide." It rather appears to us to be poetically just 
and forcible. 

V. Baicxov perpov dpiarov. (Cod.Vat. 514. Steph. 180.) 
The proportion of water with which the more moderate among 

the Grecian sages recommended that wine should be diluted, was 
as three parts in four, a recommendation here ingeniously typi- 
fied by linking Bacchus with three Water-nymphs in the dance. 



300 



NOTES. 



SIMMIAS. Page 99. 

'Hjoe/u' V7rep tv^lJoolo HiO(f)OK\eos. 

(Cod, Vat. 211. Steph.274.) 



PLATO. Page 100. 

I. 'Acrrepas elcradpe7s *A&rfjp epos' e'tde yevolfjir)v. 
Ovpavos, ws 7roX\ots ofifiaffiv eis are /BXcttw. 

(Cod. Vat. 313. Steph. 210.) 

We do not see that the context affords any reason for supposing 
the word 'Aor^ to be the name of the person addressed. If so, 
the first line might be rendered, 

"Why gaze, Asteria, on the sky ?" 

Or, if Latinized, 

" Why gaze, my Stella, on the sky ?" 

But Apuleius certainly did not so consider, when he thus treat- 
ed it; 

" Astra vides : utinam flam, mi sidus, Olympus ! 
Ut multis sic te luminibus videam." 

We are here forcibly reminded of the yet more fanciful allusion 
of Shakspeare, — 

" Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, 
Having some business, do entreat her eyes 
To twinkle in their spheres till they return. 
What if her eyes were there, they in her head ? 
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, 
As day-light doth a lamp : her eye in heaven 
Would through the airy region stream so bright,. 
That birds would sing, and think it were not night.'* 



PLATO. 301 

So says the passionate Romeo ; and the romantic Juliet, not to 

be out-done, — 

" Come, loving, black-brow'd night ! 

Give me my Romeo : and, when he shall die, 
Take him and cut him out in little stars, 
And he will make the face of heaven so fine, 
That all the world will be* in love with night, 
And pay no worship to the garish sun." 

II. Trjv tyv^iiv, Ayadiova ^uAwy, enl %e/Aeci»> ea^ov' 
■qXOe yap f] rXrifitoy, ujs Biaj3r}(rofiej'r]. 

(Cod. Vat. 99. Steph.526.) 

Aulus Gellius speaks of the celebrity which this couplet, in his 
time, enjoyed : — " Celebrantur duo isti Grseci versiculi, multo- 
rumque hominum memoria dignantur, quod sint lepidissimi et 
venustissimse brevitatis." And he adds, that many ancient 
writers affirmed it to be the genuine composition of Plato the 
philosopher, " quibus ille adolescens luserit, cum tragoediis 
quoque eodem tempore faciendis prseluderet." The amatory 
writers, both in prose and in poetry, are frequent in their imita- 
tions, — Aristsenetus, Achilles Tatius, Propertius. " Et cupere 
optatis animam deponere labris." 

It has been copied, in French, by Fontenelle : 

" Lorsqu' Agathis, par un baiser de flamme, 

Consent a me payer des maux que j'ai sentis, 
Sur mes levres soudain je sens venir mon ame, 
Qui veut passer sur celles d'Agathis — " 

And, in Italian, by Guarini : 

" Su queste labbra, Ergasto, 
Tutta sen' venne allor 1' anima mia ; 

E la mia vita, chiusa 

In cosi breve spatio, 

Non era altro che un bacio." 



302 NOTES. 

III. TJ [.iriXy fiaWto oe (Cod. Vat. 99. Steph. 486.) 

" Malo me Galatea petit, lasciva puella, 

Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri — " 

is but the counterpart of the mode of courtship pointed out in 
this Epigram, in illustration of which we need not refer to the 
story of Acontius and Cydippe, or that of Hippomenes and 
Atalanta. 

IV. 'H troPapbv ye\daaatjL. (Cod. Vat. 141. Steph. 421.) 
The imitation of this Epigram by Julian, Prsefect of Egypt 

(Brunck, ii. 494.) is too close to be here omitted, notwithstand- 
ing the anachronism. 

" Lais, when time had spoil'd her wonted grace, 
Abhorrd the look of age that plough'd her face. 
Her glass, the monitor of charms decay'd, 
Before the queen of lasting bloom she laid — 

* The sweet companion of my youthful years 
Be thine! (she said,) — no change thy beauty fears.' " (Ogle.) 

The influence attained and exercised by this most celebrated 
of courtezans over all ranks and classes of society in Greece, has 
been well expressed in her Epitaph, as preserved by Athenseus, 
lib. xv. 

" Greece, once the nurse of generous hearts, 
Mistress of nations, queen of arts, 
No longer great — no longer free — 
Yields to a willing slavery. 
A girl of Corinth holds the chain 
Which girded once th' Ionian main." m. 

The version by Ausonius of the thought expressed in the above 
verses of Plato, is too familiar to be here cited. The following 
is by Voltaire. 



PLATO. 303 

" Je le donne a Venus, puisqu'elle est toujours belle ; 
II redouble trop mes ennuis. 
Je ne saurois me voir dans ce niiroir fidele, 
Ni telle que j'etais, ni telle que je suis," 

V. Tbv ~NvfjL(j)iji)v QepcnrovTct, (piXofjiljpLov, vypbv aoihbv. 

(Cod. Vat. 148. Steph. 437.) 

" A traveller, who, when nearly exhausted by thirst, was 

guided by the croaking of a frog to a spring of water, dedicates 

to the Nymphs a bronze image of his preserver." This pleasing 

inscription needs no further explanation. 

VI. 'H TLcKJjir) Kvdepeia Si oidfiaros es KvicJov rjXOe. 

(Cod. Vat. 1. Steph. 323.) 
This Epigram consists, in the original, of three couplets ; but 
the sense and point are perfect in the two first — the last being, 
apparently, a clumsy addition by some later hand. It is accord- 
ingly disregarded in the present version. The subject was a fa- 
vourite one among the epigrammatists, both Greek and Roman. 
Ausonius (Ep. 57.) has it thus, embodying the conceit of the 
rejected couplet — 

" Vera Venus Cnidiam quum vidit Cyprida, dixit : 

Vidisti nudam me, puto, Praxitele. 
Non vidi, nee fas : sed ferro opus omne polimus. 

Ferrum Gradivi Martis in arbitrio. 
Qualem igitur domino scierant placuisse Cytheren, 

Talem fecerunt ferrea coela Deam." 

VII. At Xnptres re/jieyos ri \a/3e?^ oivep ovy). ireveiTai, 

Zrjrovaat, ifyvyjiv evpov 'Apicrrotyavovs. 

(From the Life of Plato, subjoined to Diog. Laert. p. 585.) 

Jacobs cites a sublime passage of Lactantius (De Falsa Reli- 

gione, i. 20.) embodying the same thought — of the human breast 

being the true temple of the Deity. " Firmius et incorruptius 



304 NOTES. 

templum est pectus humanum : hoc potius ornetur ; hoc veris 
illis luminibus impleatur." The idea is every way worthy of 
the divine philosopher to whom this Epigram is ascribed, and 
who is recorded to have been an enthusiastic admirer of that 
extraordinary man whose ribaldry and buffoonery were but the 
cloak of his exaked genius. 

VIII. Styctrw Xaaiov cpvalisiv Xerras. 

(Cod. Vat. 488. Steph. 335.) 
The rural deity is here represented playing on his own pecu- 
liar instrument, the syrinx. Lucretius is thought to have had 
this Epigram in view when he wrote — 

" Unco saepe labro calamos percurrit hiantes, 
Fistula sylvestrem ne cesset fundere musam !" — iv. 592. 

IX. T6v Bpopiov Zarvpov. (Cod. Vat.488. Steph.339.) 
This poem, of which there are many imitations among the 

works of the later writers in the Anthology, may be supposed 
to represent a scene in the interior of a Grecian garden — a spot 
equally favoured by art and nature, like Shenstone's Leasowes, 
or like Stour-head, where the following inscription, borrowed 
from the Latin Anthology, and translated by Pope with peculiar 
felicity, appears as an admirable adaptation of the Greek original. 

"ox the statue of a water-nymph in a grotto. 
" Hujus nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, 
Dormio, dum blandse sentio murmur aquae. 
Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum 
Rumpere. Sive bibas, sive lavere, tace ! " 

" Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep, 
And to the murmur of these waters sleep. 
O spare my slumbers ! gently tread the cave ! 
Or drink in silence, or in silence lave." 



PLATO. 305 

Well worthy of being compared with these is the following 
poetical fancy of an old English poet, who probably knew no- 
thing of Plato's Epigram. 

" Come shepherds, follow me ! 
Run up apace the mountain ! 
See ! loe beside the fountain 
Love laid to rest — how sweetly sleepeth he ! 
O take heed, come not nigh him ! 
But haste we hence, and fly him. 
And, lovers, dance with gladness — 
For, while Love sleeps, is truce with care and sadness." 

(See Bland's Collections, p. 400.) 

X. Alwv iravTa tyepei. doXi^us \povos oldev ajxelfieiv 
ovvofxa, koX /JLop^ijrf Ka\ (pvaiv, ijde rv\r]v. 

XL Ehodirjv icapvriv. (Cod. Vat. 358. Steph. 25.) 
The subject of this Epigram forms the argument of Ovid's 
Elegy, entitled "Nux" — 

" Sponte mea facilis contemto nascor in agro, 
Parsque loci, qua sto, publica poena via est — " &c. 

XII. Aor/)p irpiv fiev e\c//.t7res kvi %ioolffiv eaios' 

vvv Ze davfov Xafxxets eatrepos kv (pdlfievois. 
So Apuleius — 

" Lucifer ante meus rutilans mortalibus Aster, 
Hesperus a fato manibus ecce nites." 

And so Ausonius — 

" Stella prius superis fulgebas Lucifer : at nunc 
Exstinctus, cassis lumine Vesper eris." 

XIII. A<kpya/^vEKc'i/3fl. (Cod.Vat.222. Steph. 286^.) 
Diogenes Laertius relates that this was the inscription on the 

monument of Dion, the patriot and deliverer of Syracuse. Ja- 



306 



NOTES. 



cobs remarks, aptly enough, that the antithesis is neither very 
obvious nor very just; and the warmth of expression with which, 
in the concluding couplet, the poet speaks of the intensity of 
his passion, is rather in the tone of a lover than of a friend, and 
only to be justified by the enthusiasm which marked his cha- 
racter. Apuleius (Apolog.418.) gives the following version — 

" Civibus ingenti in patria laudate jaces nunc, 

Qui insanum me animi reddis amore, Dion ! " 
The original is, 

a sfiov exftpvets Svftoy 'iquri Aicou. 
Perhaps it should rather have been rendered above, 
" But who the phrensy of my love can stay ? " 

XIV. Navrjyov rcapos el^i' 6 2' clvtlov earl yecopyov. 

ws a\i Kal yair) '^vvbs virear A'lSrjs, 
See Petronius, where, after reckoning up the various kinds of 
accidents to which human life is liable, both by sea and land, he 
concludes — " Si bene calculum ponas, ubique naufragium est." 

XV. Navrjyov }ie USopKos. (Cod. Vat. 246. Steph.245.) 

XVI. 'AXaos $ <bs iKOfieaQa (jaBvatciov. 

(Cod. Vat. post Tit. Steph. 332.) 
" These lines may have been suggested either by the casual 
circumstance of finding a child carelessly stretched after the fa- 
tigue of archery under a tree, and sleeping, or by a statue placed 
in a retired spot, to suprise those who might happen to pass that 
way. I have preferred that interpretation which seems to me 
most consonant with the general spirit of the Greek Epigram ; 
and which appears to be justified by the occurrence of a similar 
image in the Latin Anthology. 
" ' Forte jacebat Amor, victus puer alite somno, 

Myrti inter frutices, pallentis roris in herba.' " (Bland, p. 403.) 



SPEUSIPPUS. ARISTOTLE. 307 

And again — 

"Lata cohors apium subito per rura jacentis 
Labra favis texit, dulces fusura loquelas." 

XVII. 'A Kvirpis Moiaraiffi. 

(Cod. Vat. 364. Steph. 11. From Stobaeus.) 



SPEUSIPPUS. Page 108. 
ScJ/xa jiev kv koXttois Kare^ei rode yaTa UXdroovos' 



ARISTOTLE. Page 109.. 

'A3' eyoj a rXdfxwv 'Apera rraph rwle KaOr][jLa.i 

A'iavros rvfxfio) Ketpajikva irXoicdfiovs, 
6vjj.6v a^et /JteydXa) jjefjoXrjfxeva, ovvek Ayaiois 

a ZoXotypuJv A-itdra Kpeyvvov efiov KeKpirai. 
The Parody of which, by Mnasalcus, (p. 113,) is as follows : 

'A3' eyw d rXdfiiov 'Apera Tzapd Trjde KaQr^xat 

'fLfioi'tj alayjoTios Keipafxeva 7rXoKd[Aovs 
dv/jLOv ayei fxeydX^ fiefioXrjueva, eiTrep dtraaiv 
a KaKO<f)pii)v Tepxpts Kpeiaaov ejiov KeKpirai. 
The former of these Epigrams is amplified by Ausonius, in 
that beginning — 

" Ajacis tumulo pariter tegor obruta Virtus — " 
The second is taken from Athenaeus, lib. iv. p. 163, and praised 
by Eustathius (ad Iliad. /3. 216). Its object is to expose the sen- 
sual principles of the Cyrenaic sect of philosophers, of which 
Cicero (De Finibus) — " Omnesque simplices sententias eorum 



308 NOTES. 

in quibus nulla inest virtutis adjunctio, omnino a philosophia 
semovendas putabo : primum Aristippi Cyrenaicorumque om- 
nium ; quos non est veritum, in ea voluptate, quae maxime dul- 
cedine sensum moveret, summum bonum ponere, comtemnentes 
istam vacuitatem doloris." 



MNASALCUS. Page 110. 

I. 'A/iTreX', kireiTOi <j>v\\a. (Cod. Vat. 590.) 

Upon revision, we suspect a misconception of the meaning 
of the original. The request to the vine is, merely, that it will 
not be in such haste to shed its leaves on the bare earth, but 
wait until the beautiful Antileon goes to rest himself under its 
shade. Claudian has a similar image, (xxxi. 1.) 

" Venus qusesitum frigore somnos 

Vitibus intexti gremio successerat antri : 
Densaque sidereos per gramina fuderat artus, 
Acelinis florum cumulo. Crispatur opaca 
Pampinus, et mites undatim ventilat avas." 

II. Hco Kctr i)yaQeov roc)' ayaKTopov, amrl ([xxerva. 

(Cod. Vat. 165.) 

III. IZol fikv KafiTrvXa ro^a, Kal loyeaipa tpaperpa. 

(Cod. Vat. 142. Steph. 442.) 

IV. 'A crvpiyZ, t'i tol code nap' 'Atypoyeteiav opovpas ; 

(Cod. Vat. 411. Steph. 3.) 
" I do not sufficiently see," says Jacobs, " why the poet con- 
siders this rustic instrument as so unworthy of Venus, seeing 
that the far greater part of Bucolic poetry is of an amatory de- 
scription. Perhaps there is some hidden meaning which we 
cannot take upon ourselves to explain." 



NOSSIS. ANYTE. 309 

V. Srw/iev aXippavTOio Trapa ^OafiaXav ydova ttuvtov. 

(Cod. Vat. 412.) 

VI. OvKeri di) irrepvyefffft XiyvtyOoyyoicriv aeiaeis. 

(Cod. Vat. 235. Steph. ,71.) 



NOSSIS. Page 113. 

I. ' A^iov ov()ei> epojros. (Cod. Vat. 112.) 

II. AvTOjj.e\ivva TervKTai. (Cod. Vat. 206.) 

Printed by mistake as No. 2 — it is No. 7 — in Jacobs. The 
term AvropsKivva, is a true Grsecism, which Jacobs renders 
" Ipsissima Melinna." So Lucian, AvtoQki'Ioi. 

III. Qvfiaperas fiopcpav 6 -Kival, eyei. (Cod. Vat, 460.) 
" In hujus mulieris vultu nobilis qusedam superbia, cum sua- 

vitate et amoenitate mixta, videbatur Hsec tabula vel canem 

fallat. Suavis imago." (Jacobs.) 

IV. Kai Kawvpov yeXaaas -Kapajiei^eo. 

(Cod. Vat. 260. Steph. 208.) 
Concerning this alleged inventor of mirthful tragedy, consult 
Suidas and others. 

ANYTE. Page 115. 

I. KvTrpicios ovros 6 x^P 0S - (Cod. Vat. 379. Steph. 56.) 
This epigram is thus inscribed in the Vat. MS. " On an Image 
of Venus standing on the Sea- shore, and looking towards the 
Sea." 

From another by Posidippus we learn, that to Venus Zephy- 
ritis, whose temple stood on the promontory Zephyrion, rear 



310 NOTES. 

Alexandria, was ascribed the power of calming the sea, and 
giving a prosperous navigation to sailors. So Love is termed 
by Plato as " He who gives peace to man, and to the ocean 
calm, who bids the winds to cease, and bestows rest on the 
miserable" — 

" Who sets the mind of man at peace, 

Who smoothes the billows of the main, 
Who bids the raging tempest cease, 

And gives delicious rest to pain." m. 

So also in an Epigram by Apollonides we find the following 
couplet : 

"Kct/o?t V dfitpi as ttovto;, stti Qtpvgoto 7rvoriaiu 
clQfio!/ VTiQ varov xvkusov yskousaq. 
Whence, it is more than probable, came the exquisite picture of 
Venus by Lucretius — 

" Te, Dea, te fugiant venti, te nubila cceli, 

Adventumque tuum ; tibi rident cequora ponti." 

And this leads us irresistibly to one more quotation, — the 

Hop TtM Bs KVfiurau du^td^cou yi'huay.u, 
of iEschylus, — thus admirably rendered by Potter : 
" Ye waves 
That o'er th' interminable ocean wreathe 
Your crisped smiles." (iEsch. Prom.) 

(See Bland, p. 410.) 

Let us conclude with the invocation of the Mediterranean 

seamen, which is remarkable as being at the same time perfect 

Latin and perfect Italian, and which may, very probably, have 

been addressed by their Roman ancestors to Venus with the 

same fervour of devotion as now by themselves to the Virgin — 

u In mare irato, in subita procella, 

Invoco te, nostra benigna stella." 

(See Forsyth's Italy.) 



ANYTE. 311 

II. I£ev ci7ras vtto rdade $a(j)vas evdaXea ^vXXa. 

(Cod. Vat. 408. Steph. 27.) 
The present version is gladly substituted for the paraphrastic 
one in the former edition. 

III. fteiv V7TO tclv Trerpav. (Steph. 336.) 

" In locum amcenum et subfrigidum." — Jacobs. 
For the version here copied, we are indebted to the author of 
the often -cited Article on Female Poetry in the Edinburgh Review. 

IV. Ou/cen h) ifkioToiaiv ayaWofievos Trekayeaatv. 

(Cod. Vat. 239.) 
Compare the hymn of Arion. 

V. , Q I/ K6fxed\ J MlXrjTe, c()i\r} Trarpi. 

(Cod. Vat. 285. Steph. 263.) 
Thus inscribed, " By Anyte the Mitylenasan on the Milesian 
Virgins who suffered violence from the Gauls (or Galatians)." 
This inscription might, from the equivocal sense of the term 
fiic&oditaccg, lead to a false conclusion, unless corrected by the 
historical fact, or tradition, as given by St. Jerome (lib. i. ad- 
vers. Jovian, p. 186.) — " Quis valeat silentio praeterire septem 
Milesias virgines, quae, Gallorum impetu cuncta vastante, ne quid 
indecens ab hostibus sustinerent, turpitudinem morte fugerunt." 
The number seven is reduced to three in this Epigram of a con- 
temporary, who was likely to be acquainted with the fact. 

VI. Aoladia S)) Tcifie 7rarpl 0/Xw. 

(Cod. Vat. 309. Steph. 288.*) 

VII. IloXXafct ro)& 6\o(j)vdfa. 

(Cod. Vat. 257. Steph. 288. a ) 
" Moris erat, mortui nomen repetita voce pronuntiare, ut si 
fieri posset, vocantium voce audita, in vitam rediret. Hoc erat 
conclamare." 



312 NOTES. 

So in the Odyssey, ix. 65. 

■7T(>iv nutA rau IsiT^Zu ereipav r^ig zxuarou ocvaui' 

and in the ^Eneid III. 68. 

" Animamque sepulcro 
Condimus, et magna supremum voce ciemus." 

VIII. Tlapdevov Aprifjcav Karadvpojaai. 

(Cod. Vat. 185. Steph. 263.) 

We here also gladly substitute a far closer version in the room 
of that in the former edition, which received a merited castiga- 
tion by the author of a review in the Museum Criticum ascribed 
to Bishop Blomfield ; trusting that the Right Reverend critic — 
if indeed it was himself to whom we are indebted for it — will 
pardon us for not inserting the specimen, which he proposes as 
an example of literal translation, for the reason of no less than 
four instances, occurring in so many lines, of departure from the 
sense of the original ; as, first, the total omission of the word 
TrxQdsvov, — that on which the whole distinctive force of the 
thought depends ; secondly, the metaphorical word " gate " 
being placed in the room of the vital expression lopov ; thirdly, 
the use of the vague and hyperbolical term " unnumbered " in- 
stead of the modest and probable ^oh'Kol, as ascribed to the 
Virgin's suitors; and, fourthly, the epithet "wise" used as 
synonymous with Trtvvroi, (in the original, kivvtoItos,) which, 
with great submission, we venture to think applicable rather to 
the intellectual than the moral qualities of the person to whom 
it is attributed. Our apology for this piece of counter-criticism, 
which might else appear trifling, must be found in our wish to 
show the real difficulties of the task undertaken by a translator, 
especially of Greek Epigrams. 



MYRO. SIMMIAS OF RHODES. 313 



MYRO. Page 118. 

I. Kelaat h) y^pvakav viro iraoTaha rav 'Atypohiras. 

(Cod. Vat. 162.) 

II. Nu/J0ai 'Afxadpva^eSf 7rora/xov Kopat. 

(Cod. Vat. 174. Steph. 411.) 

" Nymphis precatur, ut Cleonyrao faveant, qui ipsis simulacra 

sub pinu ponenda curaverit." (Jacobs.) The Hamadryads are 

called noroifiov xogxi on account of the trees standing on the 

margin of rivers and fed by their waters. 



SIMMIAS OF RHODES. Page 120. 

T-qKvyeTisJV (? acpveiov Y7rep(3cpeo)y dm drjfxov. 
In this remarkable fragment, preserved by Tzetzes (Chil. vii. 
690.), Apollo is supposed to be himself speaking, whose wor- 
ship was observed with peculiar honour by the Hyperborean 
nations. Concerning the Massagetse, consult Herodotus i. 215. 
What river is intended by the name YLu.^aaog seems to be 
doubtful. Of the Cynoscephali, Ctesias has written diffusely. 
Our Translator defends the assertion that 

" Much foreign tongues they learn and can indite," 

by the expression in the concluding couplet which seems to im- 
ply that, although they barked like dogs, there was no language 
spoken by mortals which they were not capable of under- 
standing — 

Tail/ fi£V 3-' COffTS KVVM V7\CIKV) TTt'hSt, dvhi Tl Tqye 



314 NOTES, 



ASCLEPIADES. Page 121. 

I. Avrov fxoi are(j>avoL. (Cod. Vat. 108. Steph. 472.) 
" These/' says Jacobs, " are the words of a lover, who sus- 
pends a garland besprinkled with tears at the gate of his mis- 
tress." There seems no necessity to explain the allusion further 
or to multiply instances in illustration of a very obvious custom. 

II. Ovk eifjC ov& erewv 8vo k eiKoaC (Cod. Vat. 575.) 
The poet here imagines the Loves to be playing at dice (ccargx- 

yuMtg), and so intent on their game as to care little what may 
become of their victim. 

III. TUv* 'A(TK\r]7na.dr}' tl to. catcpva ravra ; tl Traayjeis' 
(Cod. Vat. 576.) 

In the former edition, the fifth and sixth verses ran thus — 

" the day — 

The day's our signal — drink thy cares away !" 

The expression in the original is IuktvT^o; due; — the same that 
is used by Alcseus in a fragment already before us, in observing 
on which it has been noticed, that the true interpretation appears 
to be that which is now substituted. 

IV. Tov& 6 tl fxoL \ol7tov tpvxrjs, 6 tl h) nor, 'Epwres. 
(Cod. Vat. 594.) 

Compare Propertius (lib. ii. El. vii. 75.) 

" Tela, precor, pueri, promite acuta magis, 
Figite, certantes, atque hanc mihi solvite vitam : 
Sanguis erit vobis maxima palma meus." 

V. Nv£, ce yap, ovk aXXr}v fiapTVpOfiaL. (Cod. Vat. 11] .) 
So Ovid, (Ars Amat. iii. 69.) — 



ASCLEPIADES. 315 

" Teinpus erit, quo tu, quae nunc excludis amantem, 
Frigida deserta nocte jacebis anus." 

For a further illustration, read the tale of the Student in 
Boccaccio. 

VI. 'H^u Oepos Sixpuvri xiuv 7roTov. (Cod. Vat. 111. 
Steph. 487.) 

We are here bidden to compare the artful speech in which 
Clytsemnestra is made to anticipate the return of her lord ; 
when, instead of modestly awaiting his arrival, as the retiring 
simplicity of ancient manners would have required of her, she 
ostentatiously leads forth the Chorus to meet him, and thereby 
betrays the real purpose of her soul. " Welcome," she says, — 

" Welcome as land, which the tost mariner 
Beyond his hope descries — Welcome as day 
After a night of storms, with fairer beam 
Returning — Welcome as the liquid lapse 
Of fountain to the thirsty traveller I" 

(Potter's iEschylus.) 

Who can fail to be struck by the resemblance to Lady Mac- 
beth at the approach of Duncan, and by the coincidence of 
thought between two such accurate observers of human, nature 
as the two great tragedians of Athens and England ! 
" See, see ! our honour'd hostess ! 
The love that follows us, sometime is our trouble, 
Which still we thank as love." 

VII. $e% Trapdivins- (Cod. Vat. 100. Steph. 486.) 

VIII. Tw OaXXei Ai£o/z>7 jtte avvripiraaev. (Cod. Vat. 
119. Steph. 452.) 

" In Didymen, fuscam puellam, cujus amore poeta flagrabat." 

(Jacobs.) 
p2 



316 NOTES. 

IX. NT0e, X aXa£o/3dXei. (Cod. Vat. 97. Steph. 473.) 
On his way to join a party of revellers, the poet is assailed 

by a furious tempest, on which occasion he thus blasphemously 
apostrophizes Jupiter. The Epigram was possibly intended 
as a parody on a passage in the Prometheus, (v. 1000.) 

" Not all his tortures, all his arts, shall move me 
T* unlock my lips till this curs'd chain be loos'd. 
No — let him hurl his flaming lightnings, wing 
His whitening snows, and with his thunders shake 
The rocking earth — they move me^not to say 
What force shall wrest the sceptre from his hand." 

(Potter's ^Eschylus.) 

X. Ku7rpi?os ao eiKwv' 0ep' l^wpteOa fjiy) Bepe/j'K^s. 

ckora£w irorepa Qfj tis djaoiorepav. (Steph. 298.) 
" Elegans epigramma et urbanum." — Jacobs. 

XI. Etjui MeOri to yXvjUjua croQfjs X epos. (Cod. Vat. 479. 
Steph. 350.) 

That Ebriety— Mefa — was a personified nymph, or goddess, 
we have the authority of Pausanias, who describes her as a 
picture, the work of Pausias^ at Epidaurus, and as a statue, in 
the temple of Silenus at Elis. The property of the amethyst 
was purity, or temperance ; and the opportunity is selected of 
paying a skilful compliment to Cleopatra, the sister of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus. 

XII. Avrai TToi/jLaivovra. (Cod. Vat. 367. Steph. 368.) 
Asclepiades seems to have founded this Epigram on a passage 

in Hesiod's own Theogony. 

hinvevootu Is fioi uvboiu 

fa'mV, U)GTS K^.VOl^.1 TCC T iOGO^iVOt,, 7TQ0 T UuTCX. 



LEONIDAS. 317 

LEONIDAS. Page 127. 

I. Mt)\oj rat liCirvpa ravvfjXiKes. (Cod. Vat. 118.) 

Antigenides appears to have been the name of more than one 
famous flute-player. The first and most celebrated was one 
of whom Aulus Gellius relates that Pericles employed him to 
teach Alcibiades music ; who was still living in the time of Epa- 
minondas, and present at the marriage of Iphicrates with the 
daughter of Cotys — (Anaxandrides apud Athen. iv. 131.) Plu- 
tarch relates of another Antigenides, what Dryden has attri- 
buted to Timotheus, in his Ode on St. Cecilia's Day ; and it is 
not perhaps inconsistent with chronology to suppose, that the 
daughters of Alexander's Antigenides might have been retiring 
from office in the time of Leonidas. The double duty of play- 
ing the flute and regulating the dance at banquets appears to 
have been frequently performed by these female minstrels ; as 
in the following lines of a poem ascribed to Virgil : — 

" Copa Syrisca, caput Graia redimita mitella, 
Crispum sub crotalo docta movere latus, 
Ebria fumoso saltat lasciva taberna, 
Ad cubitum raucos excutiens calamos." 

II. Alvcvfia kcu <&pvyir]s. (Cod. Vat. 195.) 

The region watered by the Meeander was peculiarly subject 
to subterranean fires, as indicated by the epithet nvgiKotiso;. 
(See Strabo xii.) 

III. Ebaypei Xayodripa. (Cod. Vat. 413.) 

The thought of this spirited Epigram has been followed bv 
Propertius, (lib. iii. El. xi. 41.) 

" Dique, deseque omnes, quibus est tutela par agros, 

Me, Pana tibi comitem de rupe vocato, 

Sive petas calamo prsemia, sive cane." 



318 NOTES. 

The scenery is well selected for the sports of the Fowler, — a 
deep recess between the two summits of a mountain. " Gla- 
bros montium apices non quserunt aucupes, ubi calamos suos 
struant, sed in umbrosis locis, et ad aqua rivos capturam esse 
sciunt." (Brunck.) 

IV. 01 rpiaffoi rot ravra tcl Biicrva QrJKav 6/naifioi. (Cod. 
Vat. 142. Steph. 431.) 

This version, which appeared in the former edition, was con- 
demned by some of the critics on account of the worthlessness 
of the original ; notwithstanding which it is here retained, since, 
however insignificant it may seem to the English reader, it was 
thought worthy of imitation by various successive writers, who, 
says Jacobs, " hoc argumentum usque ad fastidium repetive- 
runt." It may here be observed that few poets have been so 
often and so servilely copied as Leonidas — a convincing testi- 
mony to the degree of his merit in the eyes of those who could 
best appreciate it. 

V. Tovs dvpeovs 6 MoXoccos 'Irfovifii dujpov 'A0j;j'cc. 

(Cod. Vat. 165. Steph. 443.) 
It has been before stated that the genuineness of this inscrip- 
tion is doubted, and consequently that any chronological infe- 
rence to be drawn from it is extremely uncertain. The temple 
of Itonian Minerva in which these spoils were suspended, 
was, according to the testimony of Pausanias, situate between 
Pherae and Larissa. 

VI. '£1 ravde (TTelxovres arapTriTOV. (Cod. Vat. 409. 
Steph. 56.) 

" Mercurius in eadem ara cum Hercule positus, de assessoris 
sui iniquitate conqueritur, quod quse utrique fuissent apposita, 
solus devorare soleat." The juxta-position of the statues of 



LEONIDAS. 319 

these two rival deities afforded abundant cause of mirth to the 
irreverent vulgar, of which this is doubtless a specimen. Jacobs 
has a long and learned note on the subject, which amounts to 
no more than this. Something like a parallel may be found in 
the dispute between Trinculo and Stephano, the two kings of 
the island, or in the kicks and cuffs of the rival clowns in a 
pantomime. 

VII. 'AypovofiyratieUavl. (Cod. Vat. 167. Steph. 420.) 
The offerings of the Greeks to their rural deities seem to 

have partaken of the same pure and primitive simplicity as that 
which, by the institutes of Menu, characterized the Hindoo 
sacrifices. " The divine manes are always pleased with obla- 
tions in empty glades, naturally clean, on the banks of rivers, 
and in solitary spots." So Southey, in his Kehama — 

" And here did Kailyal, each returning day, 
Pour forth libations from the brook, to pay 

The spirits of her sires the grateful rite : 
In such libations, pour'd in open glades, 
Beside clear streams, in solitary shades, 

The spirits of the virtuous dead delight. " 

VIII. AvXia teal Nv/^ewv lepbs ndyos. (Cod, Vat. 203. 
Steph. 4.) 

IX. Upefffivv \AvatcpeiovTa. (Steph. 367.) 

This Epigram, and that which immediately follows it in 
Brunck's collection, were composed on a statue of the poet 
placed in the citadel of Athens. They have the merit, at least, 
of a very lively portraiture. The permitting a robe to dangle 
over the heels of the wearer was esteemed one of the most un- 
equivocal tokens of ebriety. 



320 NOTES. 

X. M/) av y e7r' olovojioio. (Steph. 336.) 

" The merit of these lines consists wholly in their descriptiv 
character. We are pleased with anything in poetry, however 
trifling, which lays before us a clear and distinct image of na- 
ture. Thus Pope, in one of his pastorals — 

" I'll stake yon lamb, that near the fountain plays, 
And from the brink his dancing shade surveys/' 

But in a hot and thirsty region of the earth, a wholesome 
spring of water is an inestimable pleasure ; and an inscription 
merely guiding the traveller or wandering shepherd to so wel- 
come a spot, must have been a work of extensive public utility." 
(Bland.) 

XI. Tap hifpvyovaai' fiarpos e/c koXttwv en' (Cod. Vat. 
in princ. Steph, 326.) 

These verses, said by mistake to have been inscribed on the 
statue, are evidently descriptive of a picture of the goddess — 
the celebrated work of Apelles, which Augustus purchased of 
the people of Cos, and placed in the temple of Venus Genetrix, 
(Pliny, xxxv. 36.) There would be no end of comparisons be- 
tween this and the many similar effusions of ancient poetry de- 
voted to the same alluring object. 

XII. Obic ifjLCL ravra \d<pvpa' (Cod. Vat. 410. Steph. 3.) 
Compare the Anthologia Latina, ii. 231. 

" Grandia qui exiguis deducit facta figuris, 
Ad Venerem abeat ; nos tuba sseva juvat. 
Sanguine quee rubeant Gradivum carmina placent." 

XIII. Ti)p fitKpfiv fJie Xeyovffi' (Cod. Vat. 374. Steph. 80.) 
" Parvum navigium, deorum prsesidio et favore tutum, magnas 

se naves sequare ait." (Jacobs.) 



LEONIDAS. 321 

XIV. 'AarpapkvJJuavpuHre. (Cod. Vat. 362. Steph. 90.) 

XV. Ei7re 7roV Ei/jowras ttottclv Kvirpw. (Cod. Vat. 410. 
Steph. 57.) 

The commentators are not agreed as to the true application or 
meaning of this Epigram, which, on the face of it, appears to 
be the vindication of the people of Sparta from a charge of 
clothing the statue of Venus which adorned their city in martial 
habiliments. Plutarch relates, as a Spartan tradition, that the 
goddess, on crossing the Eurotas, exchanged her cestus for 
the sword and spear before she went to visit Lycurgus. This 
is an obvious and not an inelegant allegory ; and it is, per- 
haps, by way of corollary, that the poet, in the present instance, 
means to pass a censure on those who, in their condemnation of 
the severity of Spartan discipline, made use of this popular le- 
gend as implying that their institutions were hostile to the 
graces and pleasures of social life — a charge which he sportively 
denies to be true. 

XVI. M// Qdeipev w 'vdpioire. (Cod. Vat. 324.) 

The sentiment of these verses is rather freely transposed, than 
literally rendered, from the original. It would be no unpleasing 
task to collect the many passages of ancient and modern poetry 
which tend to illustrate that most natural and disinterested of 
all human passions and propensities, local attachment — a feel- 
ing, the influence of which alike tends to soften the character of 
the patriot, and to ennoble that of the voluptuary. We must 
not here indulge in any length of quotation, but may be excused 
the insertion from the former edition, p. 141, of the following 
examples from Catullus and Ovid, in aid of our remark. 

" O quid solutis est beatius curis !" 

" What blessedness hath heaven on man bestow'd, 
Pure as the hour when care and sorrow cease, 
p5 



322 NOTES. 

When the freed soul shakes off her weary load, 
And faint and tired, strangers to home and peace, 
With lingering toil in foreign land opprest, 
At length we sink again, in sweetest rest, 
On our accustom'd bed, so oft in vain 
Remember'd, and so oft in vain desired, 
When, by our native air again inspired, 
A soft oblivion steals o'er all our pain I" m. 

" Non haec in nostris, ut quondam, scribimus hortis." 

" I write not now as in those happier hours, 
When pleasure wooed me in her Latian bowers, 
When night descending shrouded o'er my head, 
Laid in sweet sleep on my accustom'd bed." m. 

" Tarn procul, ignotis igitur moriemur in oris ?" 

" Forgotten and alone your bard shall die 
On distant shores, beneath a foreign sky ; 
And his last wretched hour of parting breath 
Be made more fearful by his place of death. 
On the accustom'd bed he shall not lay 
His languid limbs, and gently die away, 
While weeping friends attend his life's sad close, 
And smooth the pillow for his long repose !" m. 

Among the Italian poets, Flaminius has described the same 
feeling, in a little poem addressed to his father. 

" Venuste agelle, tuque pulcra villula." 

" Dear fields, and thou delightful seat, 
My honour'd parent's loved retreat, 
Again your haunts shall I explore, 
Again my feet shall wander o'er 
The winding paths his taste has plann'd, 
And forests planted by his hand ! 



LEONID AS. 323 

Again, upon the well-known bed, 

My native air shall fan my head, 

And gentlest sleep bring imag'd joys 

That will not vanish when I rise. 

Bright streams of Albula rejoice, 

And murmur with a clearer voice ! 

His much-lov'd son in joy returns, 

To bless the tribute of your urns, 

And from his oaten pipe to pour 

Soft strains along your mazy shore." m. 

XVII. 'O ttXoos ibpcuos. (Cod. Vat. 489. Steph. 75.) 
This alluring subject, so natural to the imagination of a Gre- 
cian poet, was eagerly seized by many writers subsequent to 
Leonidas ; each of whom, besides varying the expressions of 
his predecessor, added some natural image to those already pre- 
sented. The translator's object, in the second of the two pieces 
here exhibited, has been to throw together all the most striking 
circumstances in the several successive poems of ADtipater, Ar- 
gentarius, Archias, Paul, and Agathias. (Bland's Collections, 
p. 377.) 

XVIII. 'At^ew \v7rrjpe SirjKOve. 

(Cod. Vat. 217. Steph. 284.) 
" Prseclarum epigramma," says Jacobs, " quo Diogenes ad 
Charontem verba faciens inducitur." Compare Ovid, Heroid. 
ii. 68.— 

" Non ego sum classi sarcina magna tuse." 

XIX. Ou fiovoy v\pr)\o7s vtto (Hevdpeffiy. 

(Cod. Vat. 163. Steph. 437.) 
" Cicada gloriatur quod in Palladis hasta collocata sit." 

We have here again an allusion to Minerva as inventress of 
the " odious flute." See before, " Melanippides." 



324 NOTES. 

XX. WvBvjios lav epeaae. rr/v e7r'"Ay^os 

' ATapTrbv epTtiov' oh yap eort hvcrficiTOS, 
Ovde <TKa\r}vos, ovfievbs wXews 7rXdvrjs, 
'10eTa oj) ^eaAiora, Krai naraicXcyt)s 
"ATraaa, KqKfxefivKOTiov b^everai. (Stobseus.) 

which Grotius has rendered thus — 

" Ad inferorum regna deducens iter 
Securus intra : quippe non conceedibus, 
Non tortuosis impedita anfractibus, 
Sed tota recta, tota declivis via est, 
Et inveniri prona vel caeco gradu." (p. 493.) 

XXI. Avra. eVi Kprjdcjros eyu) Xldos. 

(Cod. Vat. 324. Steph. 216.) 

"In Crethonis olim divitis et beati tumulum." (Jacobs.) 
Compare Ovid. xii. 615. 

" Jam cinis est, et de tarn magno restat Achille 
Nescio quid, parvam quod non bene compleat urnam." 

And Shakspeare (Henry IV.) 

" When that this body did contain a spirit, 
A kingdom for it was too small a bound ; 
But now two paces of the vilest earth 
Is room enough. " 

See also Pliny, H. N. ii. 68. 

XXII. Tis, rivos ovaa, yvvai, Uapirjv vtto kiovol Kelaai ; 
(Cod. Vat. 230. Steph. 223.) 

This is given merely as a specimen of a form of epitaph not 
unusual among the Greek inscriptions — that by question and 
answer. 



LEONID AS. 



325 



XXIII. Eeh'e liVpaKoaios rot ai'rjp. 

(Cod. Vat. 311. Steph. 517.) 

This has been usually printed among the Epigrams of Theo- 
critus. The Vat. MS. ascribes it to Leonidas. Martial has 
somewhat amplified the thought suggested by a similar occa- 
sion, lib. xi. Ep. 83. 

" A Sinuessanis conviva Philostratus undis 
Conductum repetens nocte jubente larem, 

Pcene imitatus obit ssevis Elpenora fatis, 
Prseceps per longos dum ruit usque gradus. 

Non esset, Nymphse, tarn magna pericula passus, 
Si potius vestras ille bibisset aquas." 

XXIV. Navrj-yos yXavKolo tyvyiop Tplruiros a7reiXus. 

(Cod. Vat. 294. Steph. 250.) 

This is merely an exemplification of the proverb, 

*' Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdin." 

XXV. 'Arpejua rbv tvjjl^ov 7rapay.e[{3eT€. 

(Cod. Vat. 267. Steph. 272.) 

" The reputation of Hipponax principally rests on a copy of 
verses, which he is recorded to have composed in revenge for an 
insult offered him by two unhappy sculptors, who had ridiculed 
the shortness of his stature and the deformity of his person. It 
is further related by some ancient authors, although denied by 
Pliny, that the severity of his retort so stung the miserable cul- 
prits as to drive them (like the daughters of Lycambes,) to the 
commission of suicide ; and Bayle has made this story the foun- 
dation of a long and instructive note, to illustrate his position 
that " il ne seroit ni le premier, ni le seul, qui auroit fait mourir 
des gens par des invectives." (See Bland's Coll. p. 335.) 



326 NOTES. 

XXVI. TLoifieves, ot ravrrjv opeos pa^LP oloTro\e?re. 

(Cod. Vat. 311. Steph. 283 a .) 

" Pastor Clitagoras sibi ab aliis pastoribus inferias fieri optat." 

(Jacobs.) 

This pastoral Epigram forcibly suggests a comparison with 
" Fair Fidele's grassy tomb." 

XXVII. 'A deiX* 'AvTiKkeis' 

(Cod. Vat. 280. Steph. 287 a .) 

" Matris querelas de filio immatura morte vitas erepto. Veri 
affectus plenum carmen." (Jacobs.) 

XXVIII. UoWbv cnr' 'IraXiris KeT/ucu ydovos. 

(Cod. Vat. 320. Steph. 282.) 

" The dread of exile is greater among all nations, in proportion 
to the sentiments of patriotism which the spirit of laws and go- 
vernment is calculated to encourage. Among the Greeks it was 
excessive : it aggravated the fear of death, and deepened the hor- 
ror of the grave. Nor was the impression confined to the idea of 
dying in a foreign land, in which many among ourselves would 
sympathize with them, but it extended to many of their rites 
and ceremonies, and their daily customs. A sacrifice in a foreign 
city, and an unaccustomed temple, was not attended by half the 
beneficial consequences, not rewarded with half the divine favour 
which was bestowed in recompense of those pious cares and at- 
tentions at their own homes. 

" Jocasta, in Euripides, speaks with horror of the marriage of 
her son at Argos. In a dialogue which afterwards takes place 
between her and that son, when he has returned in disguise to 
his native city, she strives to console him under the necessary 



NICIAS. 327 

evil of banishment. She tells him that hope is ever present to 
the mind of the exile : 

A/ B' i7^7rilss &d<rx.ov<7i (pvya^ac; ug \6yog. 

To which he answers, in a tone of most natural pathos, 

Kx7\olg %~kk7vw<jiv qxpotaitt' [AiKhwat Be." 

(Bland's Coll. p. 340.) 



NICIAS. Page 141. 

I. 'Uev vtt' alyeipoiffiv. (Cod. Vat. 409. Steph. 364.) 
The nymph of the fountain by the side of which Simus had 
erected a monument to his child is supposed to utter this address 
to the passer-by. The spot appears to have been selected on ac- 
count of the shade of trees which surrounded it, and which ren- 
dered it a favourite resort of travellers. Such places were fre- 
quently selected by the ancients for the purpose of interment. 
Thus Daphnis in Virgil (Eel. v. 40.) 

" Spargite humum foliis, inducite fontibus umbras, 
Pastores : mandat fieri sibi talia Daphnis. 
Et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen." 

II. A'toXe, ij/jiepodaXes cap tyaivovaa, fieXioaa, 

ZovOa, e^' wpatois avdeai fiatvofieva, 

yjopov e<f yjZvTrroov ■K(siTU>\ik.va, epya rideGOO, 
6<ppa Teds 7r\r']6r] Kr)po7ray))s daXafios. 

III. OuKeri £/) Tavv<pvXXoi> virb irXaKa kXwvos eXt^dels 

Tep\pofx\ cltto padivwv tydoyyov lets Trrepvyw)'. 
■^elpa yap els cipeav 7rai()us ireaov, 6s fxe Xadpaiws 
fiapipev, €7rt y(Xoep(Sv e^ofxevov 7rerd\wv. 



328 NOTES. 



DIOTIMUS. Page 143. 

I. Tpaia, (pi\)] OpeTrretpa, ri jiov Trpoaiovros vXuKTels ; 

(Cod. Vat. 102. Steph.483.) 
"Accedentem amantem vetula allatrat ; id quod ejus dolores 
vehementer accendit." (Jacobs.) 

"Pray, Goody, please to moderate the rancour of your tongue! " 

(Midas.) 

II. Al vofUfiOL ovo ypfjes ofAtjXiKes rjfier. 

(Cod. Vat. 323. Reiske.) 
This Epigram serves to illustrate a point which appears to be 
contrary to the generally received opinion, namely, that a priest- 
ess of Ceres might be a married woman and a mother. The 
fact which it records is remarkable ; and it affords a pleasing 
instance of familiar sentiment. 

III. 'EA.7n'£es avQpto-iziov, eXatypai Beat. 

(Cod. Vat. 270. Steph. 208.) 

" In tumulum Lesbi, tibicinis et gratiosi olim hominis. 'Nisi 

levissimas essetis, Orcus Lesbumnon sic rapuisset.' Hinc colligi 

debet, Lesbum in medio vita? curriculo concidisse, multa ei spe, 

quam animo conceperat, inopinata morte prsecisa." (Jacobs.) 



ARATUS. Page 146. 

I. Ala^io AtorijJiOP, us ev 'nkrpaicn Kadrjrai, 

Yupyapkwv natal B^ra koX 'AX^a XeyuAV. 



HEGESIPPUS. EUPHORION. 329 

HEGESIPPUS. Page 147. 

I. Ae£cu fx 'HpaicXeis, ' Ap^ecr parov lepov oirXov. 

(Cod. Vat. 172. Reiske.) 

II. Tdvde irapa rpto^ots tclv" ApTefiiv 'Ayekoyeia. 

(Cod. Vat. 192. Reiske.) 
It seems to admit of a question, whether this refers to the dedi- 
cation of a statue, or merely to the investment of a robe, in 
token of recognition of the Deity who had deigned to appear to 
her votary in a flash of light. 

III. Trjv £tt\ irvpKdifjs. (Cod. Vat. 293. Steph. 193.) 
" In Virum bonum Aristonoiim " — Jacobs ; to which the 

commentator adds, that this Epigram presents a single instance, 
within the compass of his investigations, of the supposition of 
two roads to the infernal regions, — one on the right hand, for 
the descent of the good ; the other on the left, for that of the 
wicked. 



EUPHORION. Page 148. 

I. Hpwras birKOT eVe^e kcCKcls ~EvSo£,os edeipas. 

(Cod. Vat. 194. Reiske.) 
The custom here alluded to is that of the consecration, by 
young men just entering into life, of their hair to Apollo. 

II. Ov Tpri^is Xidialos eK ocrrea tceiva Kakvirrei. 

(Cod. Vat. 310. Reiske.) 

" Scriptum in cenotaphium naufragi in Dryopum agro ex- 

structum." (Jacobs.) The unfortunate subject of this inscrip- 

ion had, it seems, suffered shipwreck in the Icarian Sea near 

the notorious promontory of Drepanus, 



330 NOTES. 

PHAENNUS. Page 149. 

I. Ova erXas u> 'purre Aewvida. 

(Cod. Vat. 274. Steph. 202.) 



PAMPHILUS. Page 150. 

I. TtVre 7rcu'7?juepios, Uavdiovl Ka.fijj.ope Kovpa 
fjivpofieva KeXacels rpauXa did aro\idr(t)v ; 
y\TOi TLapdevias ttoQos 'lkgto, ray tol d.7rr]vpa 
Qprj'iiCLOs Trjpevs alvd (ju)adf.ievos ; 
This Epigram is here printed entire, in order to correct a mis- 
take into which the Translator was led by Jacobs, who explains 
it by saying, "Hirundinein poeta querularum causam rogat;" 
when it is evident, from the context, that Philomela (the night- 
ingale) and not her sister Progne, is the mythological personage 
here addressed. Both were Pandion's daughters ; but it was 
the former who suffered violence from Tereus. So Grotius — 

" An te quam rapuit Thracis violentia Terei, 
Amissus stimulat virginitatis honos ?" 



PANCRATES. Page 151. 

I. KXeiovs at Svo 7ra?£es ' Apia roll K-q kcu "Afieivoj. 

(Cod. Vat. 206. Pveiske.) 
" Clio, Dianse seditua, filiarum suarum imagines in templo de- 
dicate precibus pro earum incolumitate adjectis." — Jacobs; who 
adds, that we have here an instance of a married priestess of 
Diana, as before of Ceres. Reiske imagines that the girls them- 



ANTAGORAS. PHiEDIMUS. 331 

selves, and not merely images of them, were the subjects of de- 
dication. 

II. 'Ek Trvpos 6 palarrip. (Cod. Vat. 163. Steph. 447.) 
The Blacksmith needs no commentary. He is introduced only 
for the sake of variety. 



ANTAGORAS. Page 152. 

I. Mvi'i/jlcltl r<3(!e Kpdrrjra deov^ea kcl\ TioXefiuia. 

(Cod. Vat. 222. Steph. 526.) 
" Scriptum est in Cratetem et Polemonem philosophos, qui, 
cum in magna familiaritate vixissent, eodem tumulo conditi 
sunt." (Jacobs.) They were, what Horace describes himself to 
be, while following the dictates of the Stoics — 

" Virtutis verae custos, rigidusque satelles." 

" As the tempest drives, I shape my way ; 
Now Virtue's precepts rigidly defend, 
Nor to the world — the world to me shall bend." (Epist. i.) 

II. 'Ev doirj fioi Ovfxbs. (Diog. Laert. iv. 26.) 



PH^EDIMUS. Page 153. 

I. To^ov juiev (o Tiyavros toXerras oQevos 

"wye /3ir]s, eKaepy "AttoWov. (Cod. Vat. 611.) 
" Apollinem poeta precatur, ut Melistionem patriae et virtutis 
amore incendat." (Jacobs.) The poet ascribes to the far-darting 
God of Day a double set of arrows ; the first for the destruction 
of men and beasts of prey, the other for inciting the breasts of 
youth to virtuous and heroic actions — " illse timendae et pesti- 



332 



NOTES. 



ferae, hae exoptandas et salutiferae." u Agitur autem hoc loco de 
sancta ilia pcederastia, in qua Lacedaemonii, Cretenses, Thebani 
virtutis et victoriae cardinem verti arbitrabantur." Melistio 
was, it seems, a youth of Boeotia, who had probably been ad- 
mitted a member of the Sacred Cohort. 



HERMODORUS. Page 154. 

I. Tav Krjclav Kvdipeiav 'icu)v, £eVe, tovto Key e'tTrots' 
avra kcu Qvarwv apye xal adardroj)'. 
rav 3' kv\ KetcpoTrtdais lopvQapcrea IluXXa^tt Xevaviov, 
avddaeis' ovtios j3ovk6Xos i)v v Tlcipis. 



THEOCRITUS. Page 155. 

For the reason already expressed with regard to Anacreon, 
namely, the multitude of translations and commentaries already 
existing, and in the hands, or within the reach, of every class of 
readers, no notes are here appended to the specimens in the text 
of Theocritus, Bion and Moschus. With respect to the two last- 
named poets, however, the present opportunity is gladly em- 
braced of drawing attention to a small volume of Translations, 
published in the year 1825, comprising, together with all the 
Idyls and other extant poems of Bion and Moschus, the fable of 
Narcissus and Rape of Proserpine by Ovid, and the Pervigilium 
Veneris of Catullus, and illustrated by a preface and notes of 
great classical merit. The author, whose name is not announced 
in the title-page, is understood to have been the late Mr. Charles 
Dickson of Montrose. 

If this volume had been sooner known to the Editor of the 
present Collection, he would have taken the liberty of availing 



THEOCRITUS. 333 

himself of some of its contents, as he now does of the following 
Italian imitation of the Eighth Idyl of Bion, given by the 
Translator, as cited by M. Longepierre : 

" Vaga, amorosa stella, 
A cui null' altra pari in ciel risplende, 
Ne si leggiadra il suo bel lume accende, 
Mentre ch' al sen della mia donna torno 

Al soave ricetto 
Scorgendomi ti mostra fida duce ! " 

and as he does also of the version by Tasso of the First of Mos- 
chus, entitled " Amore Fugitivo :" — 

" Ditemi, ov' e '1 mio figlio ? 
Chi di voi me 1' insegna, 
Vo, che, per guiderdone, 
Da queste labbra prenda 
Un bacio quanto posso 
Conderlo piu soave : 
Ma chi me '1 riconduce 
Dal volontario esilio, 
Altro premio n' attenda ! " 

and by Guarini, of the fable of Alpheus and Arethusa, which 
forms the subject of the Seventh Idyl of the same poet : — 

" Se per antica e forse 
Da voi negletta e non creduta fama, 
Avete mai d'innamorato fiume 

Le maraviglie udite, 
Che per seguir 1' onde fugace e schiva 

Dell' amata Aretusa, 
Corse (o forza d' Amor !) le piu profonde 

Viscere della terra 

E del mar — quel son io ! " 



334 NOTES. 

NICLENETUS. Page 171. 

I. Ovk edeXio, QiXoOrjpe, Kara ttt6\iv. (Steph. 523.) 
From Athenseus, lib. xv. 673. It might serve for an inscription 
on any of Watteau's pictures, or on a representation of the feast 
at Camacho's wedding. The favourite abode of Juno was in the 
island of Samos, where was also her most ancient temple, and 
which must therefore be regarded as the scene of this piece. 

II. Olvos tol yapievTi trekei relays 'l-kttos aoi^w. 

(Cod. Vat. 613. Steph. 83.) 
Horace also alludes to the favourite precept of this jovial phi- 
losopher, when he says, 

" Prisco si credis, Mecsenas docte, Cratino, 
Nulla placere diu nee vivere carmina possunt, 
Quae scribuntur aquae potoribus." 

" To old Cratinus if you credit give, 
No water-drinker's verses long shall live." 

Aristophanes, it is well known, acquaints us that he died of 
vexation at seeing a jar of good wine broken. Of course we 
must presume that he had no money to lay in a fresh stock. 



ALEXANDER ^ETOLUS. Page 173. 

I. Sa'jo^tes, apyalos 7rarepwv vo/jlos. 

(Cod. Vat. 319. Reiske.) 
See our account of Alcman, the reputed Father of Amatory 
Poetry, before, p. 39. 



CALLIMACHUS. 335 



CALLIMACHUS. Page 174. 

The translations of this poet by Dodd and by Tytler, are neither 
of them perhaps so generally known as to justify a reference to 
them as superseding the necessity of any further illustration. 
But, on the other hand, the Works of Callimachus form part of 
the library of every scholar ; and it is therefore altogether su- 
perfluous to refer to the original of each Epigram, by citing its 
first words, and noting its place in the Vatican MS. or in the 
Planudean Collection. The subjects also are such as to stand 
little in need of illustration. The First (Hptav piv tyuxfig 'irt 
to irpioit') claims our regard, no less for the exquisite and ut- 
terly untranslateable beauty of its expression, than for the fol- 
lowing happy imitation by an old Roman poet : 

" Aufugit mi animus. Credo, ut solet, ad Theotimum 
Devenit. Sic est. Perfugium illud habet. 

Quid si non interdicem ne illud fugitivum 
Mitteret ad se intro ; sed magis ejiceret ? 

Ibimu' qusesitum. Verumne ipsi teneamur, 
Formido. Quid ago ? Da Venu' consilium." 

With reference to the Second in this Collection, beginning in 
the original 'fl 'y^vrvn, 'E^t^vhs, we are desired to compare 
the close imitation of Horace (I. Sat. ii. 105.) 

" Leporem venator ut alta 
In nive sectatur, positum sic tangere nolit : 
Cantat et apponit : — meus est amor huic similis ; nam 
Transvolat in medio posita, et fugientia captat." 

On "The Offering of a Nautilus," p. 177, it has been re- 
marked, in the former edition, that " it was a general custom 
among the ancients, for girls, when arrived at a marriageable 
age, to consecrate to Venus the favourite toys of their childish 
years. To form collections of shells and marine curiosities was 



336 NOTES. 

a fashionable pursuit of the Grecian ladies, and some rare and 
valuable specimen of the treasures of their cabinet was consi- 
dered as the most acceptable offering to be made on so impor- 
tant an occasion. In the original, the Nautilus itself is the 
speaker. — " I do not ask of thee, O Venus ! that which when 
alive I was accustomed to implore, that the mournful Halcyon 
might build her nest in the ocean for me, but only that thou 
wouldst deign to shower blessings on the amiable daughter of 
Clinias, born in iEolian Smyrna." The " Venus Zephyritis/' 
to whom the Epigram is inscribed, was also known by the ap- 
pellations of Chloris, and Arsinoe, the latter of which betrays 
at once her earthly origin. She was, in fact, no other than the 
deified wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus." (Bland's Coll. 1813, 
p. 421.) 

The Sixth Epigram in the present Collection — ElVg rig, 'H^a- 
xhene, Ti6u fio^ov — is another of those instances which most 
strikingly illustrate the extreme difficulty of doing anything like 
justice to the exquisite grace and simplicity of the genuine Greek 
Epigram. Three versions are accordingly presented ; of each of 
which we fear it must be said, that it affords but a faint resem- 
blance to the original, however far superior one may be thought 
to the rest, or all to either of the older translations. 

On the subject of the remarkable and affecting incident re- 
corded in the Ninth — 'Hao/ MA«i/;tttoj/ edxtrrofiev — it may be 
remarked, that intermarriages between brothers and sisters 
were not accounted incestuous in Egypt, any more than those 
between uncles and nieces at this day in Portugal ; being 
sanctioned by the frequent example of their sovereigns. It 
might therefore have been more than the impulse of mere na- 
tural affection which led poor Basilo in this Epigram to commit 
suicide when frantic with grief for the loss of Melanippus. 

But the most remarkable, on account of its subject, of all 
these pieces is that which is printed as Tenth in the present 
Collection, with some alterations from the former edition — con- 



CALLIMACHUS. 33/ 

cerning which we refer to the note in that volume. "That 
this Epigram is ascribed to its right author we have the opi- 
nion of Cicero, who says (Tusc. Disp. i. 34.) : ' Callimachi 
quidem Epigramma in Ambraciotam Cleombrotum est, quern 
ait, cum ei nihil accidisset adversi, e muro se in mare ab- 
jecisse, lecto Platonis libro.' The learning of modern commen- 
tators has been employed to prove that the wall which sur- 
rounded the port of Ambracia, and not that of the city itself, 
distant from the sea eighty stadia, was the scene of this exploit. 
But, as the assigning to the enthusiast a watery grave appears 
to be an addition of Cicero's not warranted by the original, 
which merely says, 

"Hhetr a,<$ v-tyrihov Tii%eog sis' Afbyiu — 

we may safely place this among the numerous instances of use- 
less labour afforded by critical industry. 

"The speech of the Spartan Cleomenes, preserved by Plu- 
tarch, in answer to the advice of a follower to put a period to 
his existence, is marked by the noblest elevation of soul. Ba- 
nished his country, which he had spent his life in the vain en- 
deavour to save from destruction ; torn from his tenderest con- 
nexions — a wife and a mother whom he passionately loved ; 
proscribed by enemies ; deserted by friends ; hunted down by all 
Greece, without one reasonable ground for hoping a restoration 
to any of those cherished objects, he was still supported by the 
principles of a sublime philosophy, and by the truly religious 
persuasion that nothing is impossible to the Deity, who will re- 
ceive back the life he has bestowed, then, and then only, when 
he himself judges than it can no longer be useful either to the 
possessor, or to mankind. 

" Kardly an instance has occurred to us of so strange a cause 
for suicide as that of this enthusiastic Ambraciot. At the same 
time, it affords strong testimony to the importance of the sacred 
doctrine which occasioned it, and to the ardour with which the 



338 NOTES. 

soul of man must have caught the first faint glimmerings of so 
glorious a hope as that of its own immortality." (Ed. 1813, 
p. 151.) ___ 

MENECRATES. Page 181. 

I. Haiaiv €tti irpoTepois ifirj rp'iTov kv Trvpl firirrip. 

(Cod. Vat. 425. Steph. 120.) 
" Mulier qusedam, cum tres liberos morte immatura amisisset, 
quartum infantem simul atque enixa esset, rogo imposuit." 
(Jacobs.) 

There is something to the imagination like the fidelity of a 
Diary or old Chronicle in these short records of domestic acci- 
dents and transactions, whether of horror or of merriment. 

II. Tfjpas eirav fxkv cnrrj, 7rds evyeraC fjv de 7tot e\dfj, 

fj.c[jL(p€TaL' eari 3' det Kpeirraov 6<pei\6^.erov. 
" Senectutis, quamvis ab omnibus desideratse, exspectatio longe 
melior tamen et jucundior, quam ejusdem prsesentia. Earn no- 
bis a natura deberi cupimus, persolvi non volumus." (Jacobs.) 



RHIANUS. Page 182. 
'I£w AefyoviKOS vwo %\(oprj 7r\arapiffTo>. (Cod. Vat. 591.) 



HEDYLUS. Page 184. 

I. Uivwfiev' Kal yap n reoy, Kal yap ti Trap' dlvov 
evpotjiev \e7TTOv Kai ti iie\i\pbv tiros. 
aXXct Kadois Xtov fjie KaTafipeye, Kal Xeye, IIAIZE, 
HAYAE. /itcrw Z,rjv els Kevbv, ov fiedviov. 
From Atheneeus, lib. xi. p. 472. 



SAMIUS. ALCiEUS MESSENIUS. 339 

In the next Epigram (the 2nd in Jacobs,) we have the un- 
questionable origin of " From night till morn I take my glass" — 

'Ef TjOVg SIS UVKTCC, Ku\ SK VVKTOS HUGKJOiiKKVIS 
, Si; W*> KlUSl rSTQX^OOKXl KotSots- 

II. AvaifieXovs BctKXpv, kcu XvaifieXovs 'Atypodirrjs 
yevvarai dvydrrjp XvaipeXris Uodaypa. 



SAMIUS. Page 186. 



Aepjuct teal opyvtala. (Cod. Vat. 162.) 



ALC^EUS MESSENIUS. Page 187. 

I. 'IIpwwv rov clolSov 'I&> evi nalfies f 'Ofj.r)pov. 

(Cod. Vat. 207. Steph. 268.) 

II "Ayaye teal Bepfys Hepaav arparoy 'EWd^os is ydv. 

(Steph. 10.) 
*' Elegans Epigramma, in quo Titus Flaminius, Grseciae libera- 
tor, cum Xerxe comparatur. Scriptum videtur circa Olymp. 
cxl vi . 1 ., postquam Imperator Romanus in ludis Isthmicis Grsecos 
liberos immunesque esse jusserat ; quo prseconio audito, majus 
hominum gaudium fuisse quam quod universum caperent, Li- 
vius narrat, lib. xxxiii. 32." (Jacobs.) 

III. Qvle 6ai wv 6 irpeafivs ew eTZLrerpo^e rvfxfiii). 

(Cod. Vat. 291. Steph. 272.) 

IV. "AkXcivgtoi kcu a0a7T7-oi, odonrope, rwS' enl rvyu/3w. 

(Cod. Vat. 244. Steph. 200.) 
See what is said of this Epigram, before, p. 187- 
q2 



340 NOTES. 

DIOSCORIDES. Page 190. 

I. Tav TLiTCLvav Qpaav(3ov\os err'' cmtttiSos rfkvQev airvovs. 

(Cod. Vat. 241. Steph. 198.) 
Thus turned by Ausonius. 

" Excipis adverso quod pectore vulnera septem, 
Arma super verier! s quod, Thrasybule, tua ; 
Non dolor hie patris ; Pitanse sed gloria major, 

Rarum tarn pulcro funere posse frui. 
Quern postquam moesto socii posuere feretro, 

Talia magnanimus edidit orsa pater — 
' Flete alios ; lacrymis natus non indiget ullis, 
Et meus, et talis, et Lacedsemonius.' " 

II. ILvtypdrrjv fir) Kale, &i\u)pvfie. 

(Cod. Vat. 230. Steph. 235.) 

" Servus Persa dominum rogat, ne eum defunctum igne con- 

cremet, neque aqua abluat. Utrumque enim Persis nefas. 

Quanta religione ignem Persse coluerint, nemo ignorat. De 

aqua docet Herodotus, i. 138." (Jacobs.) 



TYMNEUS. Page 191. 

I. Toy 7rapa(jdvTa vofiovs Actfidrpiov eKrave fidrrjp. 

(Cod. Vat. 274. Steph. 201.) 
This is the precise converse of the first of Dioscorides. 

II. Mr) aoi tovto, QCkaivi, Xirjv €TriKi)piov eoTb). 

(Cod. Vat. 257. Steph. 229.) 
" In mulierem iEgyptiam, a fato in Creta oppsessam. Poeta 
earn consolatur quod non in patria sepulturam nacta sit." 
(Jacobs.) 



POLYSTRATUS. PERSES. 341 

Of the dread, common to the Greeks with other nations, of 
dying in a foreign country, enough has been said in a note on 
Leonidas. 



POLYSTRATUS. Page 193. 

Toy jxeyav 'AKpoKopivBov 'A^auKOP, 'EWddos aarpov. 

(Cod. Vat. 250. Steph. 203.) 
The date of the destruction of Corinth by Lucius Mummius is 
already referred to in the text, on the authority of Mr. Fynes 
Clinton, who appears to have settled this point of chronology, by 
fixing it about September in the third year of the 158th Olym- 
piad—two months after the fall of Carthage, and five years earlier 
than the date mistakenly assigned by Jacobs, 01. clix. 4. 

The description of this celebrated city by Livy (lib. 45) is in 
close accordance with the representation here given : " Urbs 
erat tunc prseclara ante excidium. Arx quoque et Isthmus prse- 
buere spectaculum : arx inter omnia in immanem altitudinem 
edita, scatens fontibus : Isthmus duo maria, ab occasu et ortu 
solis finitima arctis faucibus dirimens." It is a fine poetical 
sentiment by which the Romans, the reputed progeny of Troy, 
are here made the avengers of their parent city, — or, as Jacobs 
has it, " Mummii crudelitatem ita excusat poeta, ut Romanos 
ab Achseis Trojse eversse poenas sumsisse dicat." 

(See Note at the end of the volume.) 



PERSES. Page 194. 

AeiXcua MvaavXka. (Cod. Vat. 322. Reiske.) 
" Scriptum carmen in imaginem sepulcro impositam, in qua 
Neotima conspiciebatur, in matris Mnasyllae ulnis animamagens, 



342 NOTES, 

et Aristoteles, Neotimse pater, filiae caput tenens." The name 
Callirhoe has been substituted, for the sake of the metre. 



DAMAGETES. Page 195. 

I. Upos ae Aios Eeviov yovvovjieQa* 

(Cod. Vat. 292. Steph.209.) 
" Duo Charini filii, Thebani, aThracibus interemti, rogant prse- 
tereuntes, ut patri nuntium de morte sua ferre velint." (Jacobs.) 

II. "Ycttcitov, <o $b)Kaia, KXvrrj 7T0\t. 

(Cod. Vat. 323. Steph. 231.) 
" Theano, Apellichi conjux, moribunda, absentem maritum 
desiderat." (Jacobs.) Compare Tibullus, i. GO. 

" Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora, 
Te teneam moriens deficiente manu ! " 

" And when the last, the dreaded hour draws nigh, 
Do thou, ev'n then, before me, Delia ! stand : 
May I yet see thee with my closing eye ! 

May I yet hold thee with my dying hand \" m. 



THEODORIDES. Page 197. 

I. "Oi^eo aaKtiru))', Ktv^m'a, 'JLpjiov Xarpis. 

(Cod. Vat. 323. Reiske.) 
" Scriptum in Cinesiam, foeneratorem ; qui cum membris inte- 
gris obiisset, Justus vocatur debitor, quippe qui morti omnia rite 
persolverit." (Jacobs.) 



posjdippus. 343 

II. Ylerpos eyw to 7ra\ai yvpi), kcu aTpnrros €7rif3Xi)s. 

(Cod. Vat. 283. Steph. 215.) 

" De Heracliti philosophi sepulcro prope viam." (Jacobs.) 
Whether the epithet yXatxTjjT^ — latratorem — in the above ver- 
sion rendered " barking cur," be well applied to the weeping 
philosopher, is, however, so questionable, that Brodseus seems 
to have been not without reason in supposing that some other 
Heraclitus — a Cynic — was the person for whom this Epitaph 
was intended. 



POSIDIPPUS. Page 198. 

I. TLoirjv rts (3lotolo rany rpifiov ; 

(Cod. Vat. 416. Steph. 16.) 
This Epigram, ascribed in the Vatican MS., in the alternative, 
to Posidippus or Plato, and in the Planudean Collection, to Po- 
sidippus or Crates, is, together with its parody, by Metrodorus, 
so familiar even to school -boy readers, as to require no com- 
ment. The imitation too by Ausonius is sufficiently notorious ; 
as also the practical exposition of their respective tenets in the 
lively French comedy of "Jean qui pleure et Jean qui rit." It 
must be added, that the gloomy view of life taken by the ori- 
ginal writer is the most consonant to the usual spirit of Greek 
Poetry. 

II. NavriXoi, eyyvs aXos tl fiedaTrrere ; 

(Cod. Vat. 246. Steph. 245.) 

" Naufragus se prope mare sepultum esse conqueritur ; nihilo- 

minus tamen iis qui ipsura sepeliverint, gratias agit." (Jacobs.) 



344 NOTES. 

ANTIPATER. Page 201. 

I. 'ClKvfxopov fie Xeyovcn daij/jLoves dvepes acrTpuf 

(Cod. Vat. 510. Steph. 179.) 
This is one of the Epigrams marked with the name of Antipater, 
but without the distinctive adjunct ; by that of Seleucus, how- 
ever, to whom, in the original, it is addressed, it would appear 
that it is rightly given to him of Sidon. The comparison of 
wine to a race-horse speeding to reach the goal is not original. 
We have already seen it in an Epigram of Nicsenetus. 

II. "Ydaros aicp{]T0v K€Kopr)fj.evG) ayyj. TrapaoT&s. 

(Cod, Vat. 407. Steph. 82.) 
The authorship of this lively Epigram is in like manner am- 
biguous. The wrath of Bacchus against water-drinkers is easily 
intelligible. The antipathy of Venus towards the same class 
of mortals may be somewhat more questionable, although we 
remember that — 

" Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus." 

III. Ov [ioi HXrfiddoJv (pofiepri fivvts' 

(Cod. Vat. 511. Steph. 174.) 

The above version was printed in the former edition, and is 

therefore re-inserted in the present ; but it must be confessed 

that there is no authority in the original for thunder rolling in 

October. 

IV. Keptida TrfV tyikaoihbv 'Adiivaiy dero Bittoj. 

(Cod. Vat. 149. Steph. 422.) 
" Bitto, mulier fere quadragenaria, ex Minervse castris ad Ve- 
nerem transiens, textricum Deae radium textorium dedicat." 
(Jacobs.) This also is reprinted from the former edition. 



ANTI PATER. 345 

V. Avt)v fie ttXcitclvigtov e0ep7ru£ov<ra KaXvnreu 

(Cod. Vat. 393. Steph. 10.) 
" Platanus, quse longa senectute exaruit, felicitatem suam pras- 
dicet, quod vitis ipsam viridentibus pampinis ambiat. Suave 
carmen." (Jacobs.) This is, indeed, by far the most tender and 
poetical of all the Epigrams distinctly marked as belonging to 
the Bard of Sidon. "In every stage of civilized society, how- 
ever dissolute the manners, and depraved the taste of the peo- 
ple, there were never wanting poets who have sung, and philo- 
sophers who have inculcated, the laws of wedded love, of pure 
and undivided affection." (Edit. 1813, p. 138.) 

VI. Oi \xkv <rev KoXocfxSya. (Steph. 366.) 

VII. HavpoeTrrjs "Hpt vva, kcli, ov 7roXvfxvdos aoi^cus. 

(Cod. Vat. 320. Steph. 280.) 
Nothing remains to be added in this place to what has been 
already said of the interesting subject of this Epigram. The last 
couplet has been thus turned by Lucretius (lib. iv. 182.) — 

" Parvus ut est cycni melior canor, ille gruiim quam 
Clamor, in setheriis dispersus nubibus austri." 

VIII. Ne/3|oetwv biz 6 gov GaXwiy'^ V7repiayev avXuiv. 

(Steph. 506.) 
We have much learned commentary on this Epigram with 
respect to the particular species of musical instrument denoted 
by the terms Ngfogs/aj/ ctvXav — literally " pipes made of the shin 
bones of young fawns." Athenseus informs us, that they were 
of Theban invention ; and Plutarch, that the ass's bones were 
afterwards substituted. The clustering of bees on the lips of 
the infant Pindar is a highly poetical image, borrowed perhaps 
from Plato, (See before, p. 106, No. 16,) and since imitated by 
many later poets. 

q 5 



346 NOTES. 

IX. Uov to 7reQifi\eirT0v tcaXkos aeo, A(op\ KapivOe ; 

(Cod. Vat. 380. Steph. 100.) 
" Nereides Corinthi, a Romanis eversse, fata lugent." (Jacobs.) 
See before, note on Polystratus, p. 193.) 

X. Ovk en 6e\yofj.evas, 'Opcpev, £pvas. 

(Cod. Vat. 280. Steph. 269.) 
" Orphei mortem poeta luget." (Jacobs.) Borrowed by An- 
tipater from Leonidas, 

XL 2a7r<£w rot KevQeis, \Qibv AloXi. 

(Cod. Vat. 209. Reiske.) 

" Sappho poetriam Iaudans, Parcas accusat, quod ei non im- 
mortalem vitam tribuerint." (Jacobs.) " Sapphus, qua nemo 
amores suavius cecinit, ingenium Venus et Amor nutrivisse di- 
cuntur." Compare the fragment of Ibycus (before, p. 37-) be- 
ginning, ' Sweetest flower, Euryale I' " 

XII. QdXkoi reToaKoovufios, 'Avdtcpeov, a/j(pl ere Kicraos. 

(Cod. Vat. 211. Steph. 275.) 
Propertius, iv. El. vi. 33. 

" Si quid adhuc manes, cineres atque ossa sepulta." 

XIII. Ev^ets kv ^dijj,evoi(Tiv, 'Avdicpeov, effdXd irovriaas. 

(Cod. Vat. 212. Steph. 277.) 

Another, on the same inexhaustible theme, the praises of the 

Teian Bard. The present is obviously borrowed from Simonides, 

XIV. Ov vovctio 'Po^oVa re ical a yevereipa Bo'/ff/;a. 

(Cod. Vat. 285. Steph. 263.) 
Another instance of voluntary death inflicted for the purpose 
of escape from captivity and its abhorred consequences. So Po- 
lyxena, in Euripides — 



MELEAGER. 347 

" You give me to the Gods — then give me free ! 
Free let me die ; nor let a royal maid 
Blush, 'mongst the dead, to hear the name of Slave!" 

(Potter.) 

XV. Aevdpeov lepbv elfxt. 

" Scriptum in populum arborem, juxta viam prsetereuntium 
injuriis obnoxiam." (Jacobs.) The Epigram is not to be found 
either in Brunck or Stephens. 



MELEAGER. Page 210. 

I. Ei •xXajJvc €iy€v"F,pit)s, kcu ft)) Trrepa. 

(Cod. Vat. 580. Schneider.) 

II. Et /ju) ro£ov' / Ej0ws, fiySe Trrepa, firjce (paperpav. 

(Cod. Vat. 580, &c.) 
These two Epigrams, which are merely two different versions 
of the same thesis, need no illustration. In the second, the epi- 
thet nsyphqTovs, which is the reading of all the MSS., has been 
proposed to be changed for xi/^ (Strove; — a reading which de- 
stroys the simplicity, without improving the effect, of the ori- 
ginal. 

III. ,x O V0pw7roi (jwdeTre' rbv e/c 7re/\ciyous errl yaiav. 

(Cod. Vat. 581. Reiske.) 
" Hominum auxilium implorat poeta, qui e longa navigatione 
rediens, vix — dum pede in terra posito, amore in nova pericula 
conjicitur." (Jacobs.) The image of the God of Love, waving 
his torch before him, appears to be taken from the custom of 
being preceded by a torch-bearer, when going at night from one 
house to another. So Propertius, in. El. xiv. 16. 

" Ipse Amor accensas prsecutit ante faces." 



348 notes. 

The air-formed image of the original — the tvkos yvaoi&s of a 
subsequent Epigram — may be illustrated by a comparison with 
Petrarch — 

" Ove porge ombra un pino alto od un colle, 
Io V ho piii volte 

Nell* acqua chiara, e sopra Y herba verde 
Veduto viva, e nel troncon d' un faggio, 
E *n bianca nube, si falta, che Leda 
Avria ben detto che sua flglia perde." 

IV. 'Qi Xapires, tov koXov ' ' ApiaTCtyop-qv eaiSovcrat. 

(Cod. Vat. 587.) 
" Gratiarum concilio et choro dignus est Aristagoras. Eum 
fugere me oportet, ait poeta, quippe potentior vibrat ab oculis 
fulmina, quam Jupiter ab Olympo." (Meineke.) 

V. Kel/xcu. \a£ €7rij3aive /car' avyevos aypie Anljiov. 

(Cod. Vat. 575.) 
" Cupido, gravius quam hactenus fecisset, urgere eum et 
cruciare posse, negat poeta. " (Meineke). So Ovid, Remed. 
Amor. 529. 

" Mollior es, nee abire potes, vinctusque teneris, 
Et tua ssevus Amor sub pede colla premit." 

VI. Aiaaofi/'l^pcos, Toy aypvirvov efjiol noQov 'HXiodojpas* 

(Cod. Vat. 119.) 
In the Planudean Collection (Steph. 452) J;his is inserted un- 
der the name of Posidippus. 

VII. 'Rv kcridio Qj'ipwva, tci 7raV£)' bpu>' i]V Be tci Tcavra 

fiXexbu), tov Zk ye ju>), TOVfnroCkLV ovhev opw. 

(Cod. Vat. 577. Steph. 485.) 



MELEAGER. 349 

VIII. Tt icXaieis, (ppevoXyvrd, t'l cT aypia ro^a Kal 'iovs. 

(Cod. Vat. 591.) 
A similar picture is presented by Ovid in his description of 
the funeral of Tibullus, (in. Amor. ix. 7.) 

" Ecce puer Veneris fert eversamque pharetram, 
Et fractos arcus, et sine luce facem. 
Adspice, demissis ut eat miserabilis alis, 
Pectoraque infesta tundat aperta manu." 

IX. OvKed" dfxov x^apoiatv* (Cod. Vat. 291. Steph. 217.) 
The occasion of this Epigram seems to have been furnished 

by a statue of the God, erected in a public place of some city. 

X. Ti&ovelppoToXoiyos. (Cod. Vat. 114. Steph. 471.) 
This poem, observes the commentator, is descriptive of the 

manners and attributes of Cupid, and shows whence they derive 
their source. The epithet KVQiTrpotz, (fire-breathing) applied to 
his arrows is a metaphor derived from customary warfare. Ap- 
pian, in his account of the war with Mithridates ; Thucydides 
(ii. 75.) ; and others ; bear testimony to the use of similar wea- 
pons. There would be no end of quoting passages in allusion 
to the fabulous origin of Venus from the sea. The want of an 
acknowledged paternity forms a remarkable feature in the poeti- 
cal character of Cupid. 

XI. Aeivbs"Epu)s. 

This also is descriptive of the poetical character assigned to 
Cupid, who is nourished by contumelies, and rejoices in in- 
juries. So Propertius, i. Eleg. xii. 15. 

" Felix qui potuit praesenti flere puella : 

Nonnihil adspersis gaudet Amor lacrymis." 
The thought has been drained to the dregs by imitator after 



350 



NOTES. 



imitator ; and Meleager himself appears to have been indebted 
for it to Antipater. 

XII. Na.iTdvKvTcpip,"Epti>s. (Cod. Vat. 113. Steph.471.) 

"Poeta, dum iraincensus Cupidini vincula miratur, moxperi- 
culi, quod sibi paraturus sit, memor, eidem vagandi libertatem 
permittit." (Jacobs.) Compare Tibullus, n. vi. 15. 

" Acer Amor, fractas utinam, tua tela, sagittas 
Ilicet extinctas adspiciamque faces ! " 
The Kxl t us7ou x.^a,Tog is a well-known proverbial expression, 
which may be aptly illustrated by our modern phrase of " Catch- 
ing a Tartar." 

XIII. Alel fwi dwcc. (Cod. Vat. 119. Steph.471.) 
The eternal noise of which the poet here complains, the ##o$ 

"E^arog, is supposed by a commentator, who has been here fol- 
lowed, to be no other than that produced by the rustling of his 
wings, " Multa scilicet poetis audiuntur et cernuntur quae sen- 
sibus fere objecta non shit." Propertius, with this Epigram 
probably in his sight, merely says, (i. Eleg. xii. 5.), 

" Nee mihi consuetos amplexu carp it amores 
Cynthia, nee nostra dulcis in aure sonat." 

XIV. ¥vx»/ SvaMicpvre. (Cod. Vat. 580.) 

The author has here been charged, perhaps justly, with a 
confusion of metaphor, which is preserved in the present ver- 
sion. 

" Recte Manso monuit, vituperandam esse poetae inconstan- 
tiam, qui animam primo disticho ut teloAmoris sauciam, altero 
igne combustam, tertio denique ut ancillam fugitivam compella- 
verit." 

Dorville, however, in his edition of Chariton (where the ori- 
ginal Epigram first made its appearance in print, being among 
the many which that elegant critic produced from the stores of 



MELEAGER. 351 

the Vatican,) calls it " Epigramma longe suavissimum et rotun- 
dum," citing it as a beautiful example of poetical iteration. 

XV. BefiXiiadu) kv(1os. (Cod. Vat. 586.) 

Having cast away (says the commentator) all that more pru- 
dent counsel by which he had just before proposed to be directed, 
the poet here surrenders himself to the charms of revelry. 
" Egregium carmen, propter vim cupiditatis vivide expressam." 
The poet now addresses his attendant torch-bearer, now reasons 
with his own mind ; to the one issuing orders, with the other 
debating the cause between Madness and Wisdom. It is need- 
less to add that the former wins. 

XVI. OUio vol fjid ce Ba'fcxe. (Cod. Vat. 587.) 

The consortium, or fellowship, of Cupid with Bacchus is a fre- 
quent subject of celebration among the poets both Greek and 
Latin. Ion of Chios (a poet cited by Athenseus,) terms the last- 
named deity by a figure of speech which is utterly untrans- 
lateable, v^kttou tt^ottoAoi/ (5oc{)vybov7ray I^utov. So Ovid (Ars 
Amat. iii. 762.), 

" Cum Veneris puero non male Bacche facis." 
And an anonymous poet (Anth. Lat. i. 23.), 
" Ardenti Baccho succenditur ignis Amoris ; 

Nam sunt unanimis Bacchus Amorque deus." 

XVII. "Ayyeikov rac>e Aopjcas. (Cod. Vat. 114. Reiske.) 
The poet sends the maid, Dorcas, to his mistress with mes- 
sages : but, while he goes on adding one topic of remembrance 
to another, he follows on her footsteps ; so that, without his 
perceiving it, they reach the door together, and he becomes 
himself his own message-bearer. 

" In toto carmine/' observes Reiske, " regnat consilii inopia 
et inconstantia, et quasi aestus. Imperat, vetat, per vices, eadem, 
et ssepius." 



352 



NOTES. 



XVIII. *Q, ttXokci/jiov Arjfiovs. (Cod. Vat. 1 17. Reiske.) 
Love emptying his quiver of arrows to transfix the heart of 

this universal adorer was too happy an image to be overlooked 
by subsequent imitators ; and we find it accordingly in the Epi- 
grams of Archias and Paul the Silentiary. 

XIX. Nv| teprj Kai \v X ve. (Cod. Vat. 89. Steph. 467.) 
By Planudes this Epigram is assigned to Philodemus. The 

Vatican MS. gives it to Meleager. " Nox et faces," observes 
the Commentator, " semper amorum mysteriorum conscise, igi- 
tur et juramenti testes et foederis," &c. 

" Veneris perjuria venti 

Irrita per terras et freta summa ferant." 

(Tibullus, i. 4. 21.) 

XX. Marpos er kv KoXirotaiv. 

(Cod. Vat. 575. Steph. 484.) 
The phrase vruevftot Kvfavitv has passed into a proverb as ap- 
plicable to those who exclaim with Richard, 

" Slave ! I have set my life upon a cast, 
And I will stand the hazard of the die." 

(Shaksp. Rich. III. act v. sc. 4.) 

XXI. 'Hous tfyyeAe X aipe. (Cod. Vat. 586.) 

This is a single distich in the original, and justly designated 
as one of great elegance, which Brunck was the first to produce 
from the Vatican. The same planet is addressed as exercising 
alternately the functions of the morning and evening star. 

XXII. 'l£ov e X eis to (piXrjfxa. 

(Cod. Vat. 586. Steph. 472.) 

The two distichs of which the above is a version have usually 

been printed as two distinct Epigrams. Jacobs ingeniously con- 



MELEAGER. 353 

jectures that they originally formed one, and his supposition has 
been here adopted. Bird-lime is a favourite metaphor with our 
poet. In another Epigram he admonishes his soul to beware 
lest she be caught by it : which reminds us of two well-known 
passages in Shakspeare ; one, where Cardinal Beaufort, in the 
terrible agonies of his death-bed, exclaims, 

" Comb down his hair. Look ! look ! it stands upright, 
Tike lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul." 

And again where the king, in Hamlet, ejaculates, in the midst 
of his fearful orison, 

" O limed soul, that, struggling to be free, 
Art more engaged !" 

XXIII. TLixpoprot. vdes 7re\ayiTi£es. (Cod. Vat. 576.) 
'■* The poet may here be supposed walking on the shores of the 

Hellespont. He sees numberless vessels passing and repassing, 
and bids them to bear tidings from him to the lady of his affec- 
tions, whom he is expecting shortly to visit. The sixth line in 
the original has caused much dispute. Literally interpreted, it 
is thus — ' Expect me not as a sailor, but as one who travels on 
post to behold you ;' a hyperbolical expression, signifying that 
the desire of meeting was of strength sufficient to support him 
in his passage across the seas, even without the aid of a ship." 
Ed. 1813, p. 41. 

XXIV. ' hlv f.ie\os, vol Tiara tov 'ApKcida. 

(Cod. Vat. 107. Steph.448.) 
This version has been substituted for that in the former edi- 
tion, p. 15, as more simple, and closer to the original. The 
subject needs no illustration. 

XXV. Evicts, ZrivcxpiXa, rpvtyephv OaXos. 

(Cod. Vat. 112. Reiske.) 



354 NOTES. 

This is one of those exquisite fancies which cannot but lose 
more than half their charms in the process of transfusion. The 
same sentiment occurs to the empassioned Romeo — 

" Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, Peace in thy breast ! 
— Would I were Sleep and Peace, so sweet to rest !" 

XXVI. At rpiffaal Xdpires. (Cod. Vat. 116. Reiske.) 
This version may perhaps be censured for amplification. The 

original needs no comment. 

XXVII. Ktjpvacru) tov "Epwra. 

(Cod. Vat. 113. Steph. 450.) 
For the original of this Epigram the reader is referred to the 
third Idyl of Moschus. We have here, as in many other places 
descriptive of the person and attributes of the God of Love, the 
gipsy laugh, the ai/xa yiholv, so illustrative of all existing images 
of fauns and satyrs, which have been kept in sight in this ver- 
sion ; and the circumstance of Cupid's not being possessed of 
that species of wisdom which the proverb assigns to the child 
that knows its own father, is supposed to be derived from Plato's 
Symposium. 

XXVIII. "Hdrj XevKov 'iov ddWei. 

(Cod. Vat. 108. Steph. 448.) 

The foregoing paraphrase is substituted for that in the former 
" Collections," which was wider from the sense of the original. 
You must suppose the poet (observes Jacobs) to be prompted 
to this lively train of comparison by the actual inspiration of a 
morning in spring ; and though there may be a doubt as to the 
exact botanical signification of some of the names employed to 
designate particular flowers, there is none to suspect that the 
poet has fallen into the error so ingeniously detected by Dr. 
Aikin (in his " Essay on the Application of Natural History to 



MELEAGER. 355 

Poetry "), where lie censures Pope for having in his pastorals 
represented two flowers as blowing at the same time, when 
some months in reality intervene between the periods of their 
flowering. 

" Here the bright crocus and blue violet grow ; 
Here western winds on breathing roses blow." 
" Every flowery versifier," observes the same pleasing writer, 
" has materials at hand for a lover's bower ; but a botanist 
alone could have culled and sorted the plants which compose 
the bower of Eve." 

XXIX. To GKvtyos fjfiv yeyrjQe. 

(Cod. Vat. 112. Steph. 450.) 
This is but the same thought a thousand times repeated, 
which, in the dress given to it by the sophist Philostratus, sug- 
gested to Ben Jonson his popular song — 

" Drink to me only with thine eyes," &c. 
Cumberland (Observer, No. 74,) was the first to detect this 
piece of honest plagiarism. 

XXX. UtoXeiadto. (Cod. Vat. 113. Steph. 451.) 
This must be esteemed a palpable imitation of the tenth ode 

of Anacreon, unless (which there seems to be some ground for 
suspecting,) the poem which is so designated be in fact a com- 
paratively modern production ; and in that case the present may 
be the original from which the other was but derived. It seems 
unnecessary to intimate that the poet alludes throughout to the 
customary mode of slave-dealing. 

XXXI. 2>(j)a.ipi(TTav rov"Epwra rpetyo)- 

(Cod. Vat. 119. Reiske.) 

This is a fanciful, perhaps an original, conceit. " Cor suum 

(says Jacobs,) cupiditate palpitans, ab amore ad Heliodoram 

pilee ad instar mitti ait. Tarn puellam, ne id rejiciat, precatur." ( 



356 NOTES. 

XXXII. "Ey X ef ral ttuXlu elvre. (Cod. Vat. 107. Reiske.) 
This Epigram is imitated from the 31st of Callimachus. The 
convivial custom to which it alludes was the origin of our mo- 
dern "toasts/* so prevalent in the two last centuries. The Scho- 
liast on Theocritus (Idyll. 14. 18.) thus describes it: " It is a 
custom in the Symposium to take a cup of unmixed wine, and, 
after naming some friend or mistress, to make a libation of the 
contents, loudly proclaiming the name of the beloved object." 
Another custom to which it also refers, of crowning the head 
with the garland of yesterday, in memory of departed joys, is 
touched by Propertius (n. El. xxiii. 59), 

" Me juvat hesternis positum languere corollis." 
The beautiful idea of the odours still dropping from the chap- 
let being the tears of the rose, shed in pity of his amorous com- 
plaints, may probably belong to the poet himself. 

XXXIII. IL\e£w XevKolov. (Cod. Vat. 108. Steph. 449.) 

What has already been said, on the subject of the 92nd 
Epigram, will apply with still more force to the present. The 
materials for a garland could not have been better selected. 
The beautiful compound epithet, pvQoQorgvs, imperfectly ren- 
dered even by the lengthened paraphrase " cujus comae comtse 
unguentis redolent," has been attempted in the last line of the 
above version, with how much better success others may judge. 

Cicero, in his Oration against Piso, describes the voluptuary 
Gabinius, by a similar mode of head-dress. '.' Erant illi comti 
capilli, et madentes cincinnorum fimbria;." Coins, gems and 
statues innumerable may be cited to illustrate the fashion, of 
which our modern drawing-rooms have witnessed the revival. 

XXXIV. 'A»'0o&We p&Xurtra. 

(Cod. Vat. 110. Steph. 450.) 

Of the exquisite compound epithet dudolUtrs, different inter- 



MELEAGER. 357 

pretations have been given by the commentators : '"' Egregium 
apis epitheton, quse floribus vescitur," says one; "vitamfloribus 
agens," says another. The latter hashere been preferred. 

XXXV. Adicpvd (TOi Kcti vepde Sia ydovos. 

(Cod. Vat. 282. Steph. 228.) 
The subject of this highly tender inscription is by some sup- 
posed to be the wife, by others the daughter, and by others 
again the mistress, of the poet. A comparison with some of the 
preceding epigrams would strongly incline to the third hypo- 
thesis ; while those who maintain that the person in question 
was the daughter, rest upon the word arogyv}, which more pe- 
culiarly seems to imply Natural affection ; but this supposition, 
again, is contradicted by the unequivocal application of the 
same word to a mistress in another of these very Epigrams. 

XXXVI. Xel/JLaros f/refjioevros air aid epos. 

(Cod. Vat. 418. Steph. 124.) 
The Greeks in general, and particularly the Athenians, ap- 
pear to have been most sensitively alive to the beauties of na- 
ture. The Romans too, in imitating them, have caught some- 
thing of their spirit. The ode falsely ascribed to Petronius Ar- 
biter, which is probably a far more modern translation of some 
Greek original, is a beautiful specimen of the generally unsus- 
pected capabilities both of their language and their genius : — 

" Ver novum, ver jam canorum, vere natus orbis est, 
Vere concordant amores, vere nubunt alites, 

Et nemus comam resoivit de maritis imbribus 

Cras amet, qui nunquam amavit ; quique amavit, eras amet." 

The moral feeling with which the poem in the text concludes 
is eminently beautiful ; but it fades before the devotional spirit 
of Oriental poetry, of which the following passage of the Gu- 
listan (Gladwin's Transl. p. 93.) is a striking example : 



358 NOTES. 

"I recollect that once I had travelled the whole night with 
the caravan, and in the morning had gone to sleep by the side 
of the desert. A distracted man, who had accompanied us on 
the journey, set up a cry, tool the road of the desert, and did not 
enjoy a moment's repose. When it was day I asked him what 
was the matter. He replied, ' I heard the nightingales in the 
trees, the partridges in the mountains, and the brutes in the de- 
sert, uttering their plaintive notes and doleful lamentations : I 
reflected that it did not become a human being to be asleep 
whilst all other creatures were celebrating the praises of God.' " 

XXXVII. 'H x »?€/s Teml (Cod. Vat. 418. Steph. 124.) 
The insect here apostrophized is the sort of grasshopper called 

by the Greeks tJtt;|, and is described by the writers on ento- 
mology in terms which show the accuracy of the poet's obser- 
vation. " The males of the perfect insect, in general, chirp like 
the cricket ; and some of the larger kinds of the Tettigonia family 
possess two peculiar drum-like organs, which emit a loud and 
incessant noise, at the pleasure of the insect." "The membrane 
of the thorax is large, inflated ; on each side seven black dots ; 
body yellowish ; wing-cases hyaline, and dusky on the inner 
margin." Another peculiarity, which I have transferred to this 
Epigram from that immediately following, belongs to an animal 
of a different genus, of the Hemiptera species (according to Lin- 
naeus), the locust, and is thus designated : "Thighs membraneous, 
and toothed beneath." In other respects the turn of thought and 
expression in the two Epigrams is so much the same, that they 
have not been considered as deserving of separate versions. 

XXXVIII. At vvfMpai tov Ba/c)(Oj/. 

(Cod. Vat. 412. Steph. 82.) 
The well-known fable to which this Epigram contains so 
witty an allusion is illustrated by reference to Euripides, 
(Bacch. 520.) 



MELEAGER. 359 

XXXIX. Avros 6 j3ovs LKerrjs. 

(Cod. Vat. 436. Steph. 33.) 

The mythological turn of thought contained in this Epi- 
gram is borrowed from Moschus, (See before, p. 170.) " Cupid 
turned Ploughman." 

XL. Ae'Zirepljv 'Aidao. (Cod. Vat. 258. Steph. 227.) 
The daughters of Lycambes, driven to the commission of sui- 
cide by the iambics of Archilochus, attest the falsity of whatever 
the malicious poet had laid to their charge ; and at the same 
time complain of the assistance which the Muses had rendered 
him in his base design of blasting their maiden reputation. 

" Done to death by slanderous tongues 
Was the Hero that here lies — 
Death, in guerdon of her wrongs, 
Gives her fame that never dies." 

XLI. UafifjLtJTop y% %alpe. (Cod. Vat. 279. Steph. 193.) 
This is the epitaph of a good and humane person, by name 
iEsigenes, of whom nothing is known but what is here recorded ; 
and it is scarcely possible to desire, after death, a more grate- 
ful memorial. 

XLII. OlKTpOTCLTOV fXCLTTjp (T€ Xapl^€l€. 

(Cod. Vat. 281 . Steph. 287a.) 
The %hu.pv<; — chlamys, or martial habit — was assumed by 
young men on their first entrance to manhood, about the age of 
eighteen, which is stated in the Epitaph as that at which the ill- 
fated subject of it had just arrived. The epithet KotxaireioOeve, 
applied to Molga, or Fate, is one of those extraordinary com- 
pounds so peculiar to the genius of the poet, and the frequent 
adoption of which deservedly places him so high in the inventive 
scale of poetry. 



360 NOTES. 

XLIII. Ov ydjjiop, d\X 'Aicau eTrivv^icLOV KXeapiara. 
(Cod. Vat. 233. Steph. 224.) 
It is thus, to say nothing of more ancient parallels, that we 
find Capulet relating the death of Juliet — 
** Oh son, the night before thy wedding day, 
Hath Death lain with thy bride : see, there she lies, 
Flower as she was, deflowered by him, 
Death is my son in law ; Death is my heir ; 

My daughter he hath wedded." 

***** 
" All things that we ordained festival 

Turn from their office to black funeral — 

Our instruments to melancholy bells ; 

Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast ; 

Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change ; 

And bridal flowers serve for a buried corse." 
— To which example, cited from our former edition, p. 306, may 
be added the following from Herrick's " Hesperides " — 

" UPON A MAID THAT DYED THE DAY SHE WAS MARRIED. 

" That morne which saw me made a bride, 
The evening witnest that I dy'd. 
Those holy lights, wherewith they guide 
Unto the bed the bashful bride, 
Serv'd but as tapers for to burne 
And. light my reliques to their urne. 
This Epitaph, which here you see, 
Supply 'd the Epithalamie." 

Compare with these, Apuleius, iv. 86. "Cantusquelsetus Hy- 
menal lugubri finitur ululatu, et puella nuptura detergit lacry mas 
ipso suo flaninieo." 

So Cydippe, in Ovid (Ep. xxi. 171.) 

" Nostraque plorantes video super ora parentes, 
Et face pro thalami fax mihi mortis adest." 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 361 

XLIV. Ndcos €fj.a 6pe7TT€ipa Tvpos. 

(Cod. Vat. 269. Steph. 208.) 
See what has already been said, in our preface to Meleager, 
on the subject of this commonly mistaken Epigram. 



EPIGRAMS OF UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. Page 237. 

I. Et0' ape/ios yev6jir]V. (Steph. 478.) 

By Planudes this Epigram is ascribed to Dionysius the Sophist, 
who was appointed to the charge of the Alexandrian Library by 
the Emperor Hadrian. But there seems to be no sufficient rea- 
son for this attribution. Compare Dumain's sonnet in "Love's 
Labour lost." 

" On a day — alack the day !" &c. 

II. Etreo-e Kvariyoiv airoaTikfiovaav edeipais. 

(Cod. Vat. 92. Steph. 482.) 
To this Epigram may well be applied the delightful corre- 
spondence between the Due de Nivernois and Madame de Mire- 
poix, given in Bland's Collections, (former edition, p. 43,) as 
illustrative of a similar thought preserved in an Epigram by 
Paul the Silentiary. 

III. IIws yev6fir)v ; nodey elfii ; 

(Cod. Vat. 505. Steph. 179.) 

IV. Iltye teal evtypalvov. (Cod. Vat. 515.) 
So Horace — IV. Od. vii. 18. 

" Quis scit, an adjiciant," &c. 
" Swift circling moons the waning heavens repair— 
We, soon as pass'd to where 



362 NOTjfis. 

Our sire iEneas, and those monarchs old, 

Ancus and Tullus, hold, 
Are but thin ashes and impassive air. 

" Who knows if Heaven, that counts his days, will give 

Another hour to live ? 
The wealth you 've freely spent, your gaping heir 

Shall look in vain to share- 
That wealth is your's — your sole prerogative." m. 

V. 'AXKifih'rjs 6 rrevixpos. (Cod. Vat. 148. Steph. 430.) 

VI. Yvfxvr)y ei^e Hdpis ^ue, nal 'Ay^/o-jys, kciV'ASiovis. 

tovs rpeh olda povovs. IJpa^treXrjs de nodev ; 
A friend, to whom I am also indebted for the 13th Epigram 
in this division, suggests the following : 
" Adonis, Paris, and Anehises 

I have given these charms to view — 
Those three only — my surprise is, 
Where, Praxiteles, did you ? 

VII. UaXXas rap Kvdepeiar. (Steph. 325.) 

This Epigram was judged worthy, by Ausonius, of a double 
version. Compare Leonidas, 50. 

VIII. 'Ek Zwfjs fie Oeol rev^av Xidov' €K £e XidoLO 

£h)))v Tipa^ireXris efXTraXiv eipyaaa.ro. 

IX. "H ToSe tt)v Kvdepetav vdwp refcev, rj Kvdepeia 

roiov erev^ev vdojp, ov \poa XovGafxevrj. 

X. IlaXXa^os elfil §vtov" 'Bpo/itov tI jue OXtfiere kXwvcj; 

aipere rovs fiorpvas' napderos ov fjtedvu). 

XI. TbvXvKov eObTuv [jiaZwt. (Cod.Vat.365. Steph. 40.) 
This Epigram is numbered wrong in the text. It should be 422. 

XII. '£lKe?ai j^Apires yXvicepwrepat' rjv de fipadvvrj, 

Travel x a 'l° ts Kei'erj, fjirjde Xeyoiro \apis. 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 363 

XIII. 'Hv v£os, dXXa Trees' (Cod. Vat. 378. Steph. 89.) 

XIV. Els 'Aidr)v IQeia KarfjXvats. 

(Cod. Vat. 489. Steph. 54.) 
Compare Leonidas, 63. 

XV. Olvos ical to. Xoe'rpa fccu >/ nepl Kvirpiv epwrj 

oEvreprjv wefjnrei T))v bdbv els f Aidrjv, 

XVI. 'EXdbv els 'At V- (Cod. Vat. 379. Steph. 15.) 
Ausonius has imitated this Epigram. 

" Efligiem, rex Croese, tuam, ditissime regum," &c. 

XVII. Kcf.v fie KaraKpvTrrr]s, ws ovcievbs avfipos dpujvros, 

ofXfia AIktjs KaQopq. Travra tcl ytvofxeva. 

XVIIL 'Ai rpiorffal wore nai^es. 

(Cod. Vat. 381. Steph. 32.) 

" Historia de tribus puellis, sortem de morte sua exploranti- 
bus." — " Sortes, ubi malum portendunt, semper certse sunt ; at 
bona mortales neque precibus nequemanibus a Diis impetrant." 
(Jacobs.) 

XIX. Uivfiape, M.ovffau)v lepbv arbfxa. 

(Cod. Vat. 216. Steph. 283.) 

XX. "EXdere npbs reLievos. (Cod. Vat. 386. Steph. 92.) 

XXI. Avrai croc aToiiareaaiv. (Cod. Vat. 386. Steph. 93.) 

XXII. 'Exprjv ixev arr\aai avv"Epom <j*iXa) <re, NLevavSpe, 

XXIII. i&atdpvv eraipov" Epwros. 

These two last Epigrams, not to be found in the Planudean 
Anthology, have been preserved by Gruter, and other collectors 
of inscriptions. They are supposed to bear allusion to the 
subjects of some of the lost Comedies — perhaps also to some 
personal traditions respecting the life of the poet. 
r2 



364 



NOTES. 



XXIV. M/, decays tov adcnrrov, ea Kvai Kvpfia yeveadcu' 

yrj fJi7]Tr]p navTOJV fx-qrpo^Qopov ov Se\er avcpa. 

XXV. 'Efiov Oaiovros, yarn fxiydfiru) irvpi' 

ovoev fieXei jjlol' tu/ici yap koXws eyei. 
It must be observed that the version here given, although in 
the spirit, is not according to the letter, of the original couplet, 
which distinctly specifies the destruction contemplated as being 
by fire, in which sense only it accords with the barbarous wit- 
ticism attributed by Suetonius to Nero ; — " Dicente quodam 
in sermone convivii, s/xov Sxvovrog yccla ^ty^^ru srvg/, imo, in- 
quit, kfiov ^avrog, planeque ita fecit." Cicero alludes to the 
same, as a common proverbial expression, when he says, in the 
language of a liberal and humane philosophy — " Quoniam ilia 
vox inhumana et scelerata ducitur eorum, qui negant se recu- 
sare, quo minus, ipsis mortuis, terrarum omnium deflagratio 
consequatur; quod vulgari quodam versu Grseco pronuntiari 
solet." (De Fin. iii. 19.) 

XXVI. Bam cpayiov, kcu (3aia 7nwy> kcu 7ruWa vofffjaas, 

6\pe jj.ev t dXX edurov* eppere ttclitcs bfiov. 
This is but a parody of the Epitaph by Simonides on his 
Rhodian antagonist (see before, p. 69, No. XXV.) ; but it is 
strikingly melancholy. 

XXVII. 'EXttU kcu cru TvxVi f*eya x a, 'p eT€ ' T ° y X'^r 

evpoy. 
ovSey efjtol \ vfiiv, 7ra/£ere tovs fier efxe. 
So Gil Bias and Roderick Random, at the conclusion of then- 
respective adventures, severally exclaim, 

" Inveni portum— Spes et Fortuna, valete ! 
Sat me lusistis — ludite nunc alios." 

XXVIII. Tovro roi iifjteripris pvrtpiior. 

(Cod. Vat. 257. Steph. 194.) 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 365 

Jacobs says well — " Tenerrimi amicitise sensus significatio in 
hoc carmine inest." It is well worthy of comparison with 
that exquisitely simple address to his friend Heraclitus by Cal- 
limachus (see before, p. 177 ■), or with the still more affecting 
lines of Jortin — 

"Quae te sub tenera rapuerunt, Poeta, juventa, &c. 
" O had the Fate that cut thy tender age 
Made me companion of thy pilgrimage ; 
That I might say, Farewell ! to earth and sky, 
And once again beside my Poeta lie ! 
Thee will I follow — on the darksome road 
Love lights me onward to thy calm abode. 
But oh ! refrain from that oblivious wave, 
And think of him who hastens to thy grave." b. 

XXIX. Tata <pi\r] rbv irpeaftw y Afivvrv)(pv eydeo k6\7tois. 

(Cod. Vat. 253. Steph. 210.) 
" In Amyntichum, hortulanum et agricolam." (Jacobs.) 

XXX. Tfjpa'i iced ireviri rerpvpevos. 

(Cod. Vat. 255. Steph. 222.) 
This Epigram is assigned by Ernesti to Callimachus. The 
Vat. MS., according to Salmasius, describes it as doubtful 
whether it belongs to Callimachus or Simonides ; but Jacobs 
says that there is no trace in the Palatine Transcript of any 
such expression being discernible on the face of the original 
MS. The poetical nature of the subject, and the mournful pic- 
ture which it exhibits of the extreme of human misery and in- 
firmity occupied in the miserable office of digging the grave for 
its own reception, render it worthy of either of its reputed pa- 
rents. The concluding couplet is substituted, as nearer to the 
epigrammatic sense of the original — 

KfiOOTOV, iTFUT tT<&(pnv' t&Kkci T{t(p£l; 'idoCVOV 

r3 



366 NOTES. 

than the scarcely intelligible version in the former edition — 

" Revers'd the laws of Death — the common doom — 
And, while my life-blood ilow'd, suborn'd my tomb." 

XXXI. Ov% 6aiu)s rjpwa^as vtto yBova, Kotpave UXovrev. 

(Dorvill. Chariton. 260.) 

The turn of thought in the last verse of this Epigram, which 
has sustained the crucible of various readings, is, as it seems 
now to be settled, at once unexpected and pleasing. 

"H.^7raaciu, aaxs^'T'hxv, 'Nod'hsg, ov Qctuxroz. 

Antipater (of Thessalonica) has in one of his Epigrams a 
similar idea — 

"Eartu (aviu o ys nctis hu ^a^xai Tl?gae(poveiot$ 
xa-iyvtov. 

The child, whom you mourn as dead, shall yet live to be a toy, 
or a play-thing, in the house of Proserpine." 

XXXII. "Aprt fjte yevofxevoj' £was j3pe({>os iip-nave <$aifAioi', 
ova old' eir ayaduiy airtos, e'tre kcikojv. 
'A7r\i]pu)T 'A'ida, rl fixe V7]ttioi> i]pTtaaas atyvti) ; 
ti (nrevdeis ; ov croi iravres o^eiXofxeda ; 
This affecting inscription (which is also taken from Gruter) 
suggests a comparison by way of contrast with the following, 
which may be met with in more than one Christian burying- 
place. 

" Beneath, a sleeping infant lies — to earth her body's lent ; 
More glorious she '11 hereafter rise, but not more innocent. 
So when th' Archangel's trump shall blow, and souls to bodies 

join, 
Millions may wish, their stay below had been as short as thine." 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 367 

" Hie Infans infra dormit, confisa sepulcro 
Splendidior surget, non magis innocua. 
Cum tuba summa sonans animas in corpora reddet, 
Vellent quam multi vitam habuisse tuam ! " g. r. 

XXXIII. M») fxvpa, p) oretpdvovs. 

(Cod. Vat. 508. Steph. 172.) 

The stanzas " On the same Subject," which immediately fol- 
low, were freely imitated from a passage, cited by Potter (An- 
tiquities, vol. ii. p. 186,) as the fragment of an old poet in Sto- 
bseus, but which I have been unable to find among that writer's 
collections, and know not where else they are to be met with — 

Ov usu yoiQ ovrag olu ttot ioTftpoivuftzvot, 
Ti.Qovx.ii \us / avha ovls KccTccxex^vpsvoi, 
E/ py xctrufioivTug svQtcjg niveiv £§£/. 
Atx Totvroc yao roi xxl Hcikavvrcci [^ctKoc^iot, 
TLotg yu,^ T^iyn rig, 6 ftocKUQiTYig oi'%sroci. 

There may appear, at first sight, some contradiction in the 
half -weeping, half- smiling eyes of those who celebrated the fu- 
neral of a hero. The immediate relatives might have been 
wholly absorbed in sorrow for a private loss ; but his country- 
men, to whom he was known only as their champion, wept not 
for the man, but for the patriot : their sorrow, therefore, was 
forgotten, or alleviated by their pride. His death was glorious, 
and his funeral a pageant. The parents of those Spartan heroes 
who had died in fight, were congratulated by their intimates, 
and returned thanks in their temples to the God of Battles. By 
this it is not implied that they were destitute of the feelings of 
parents. The funeral solemnities were grand and gloomy. The 
real feelings were suppressed, and smothered in the sound of in- 
struments, and the apparatus of banqueting. 

The deep and solemn sadness attending our Gothic burials, 
the black shades of yews and cypresses, the dreary charnel- 



368 NOTES. 

house, and the vaulted sepulchre, the terrific appendages of 
mouldering bones and winding-sheets, 

" The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave, 
The deep damp vault, the darkness, and the worm," 

which, from custom, form so great a part of the horror we feel 
at the thoughts of death, were to them unknown. The corse 
consumed by funeral fires, and the ashes inclosed in urns and 
deposited in the earth, presented no offensive object or idea. 
Besides, to dissipate the sorrows of the living, or perhaps with 
a desire to gratify the spirit of the dead, wines were poured, and 
flowers scattered over the grave. These last pious offices were 
called "Eoarz;, " the grateful tributes of love and veneration." 
The manes of the deceased, still wandering about the place of 
interment, might perhaps partake of the libation or enjoy the 
odour. At least, his memory would be honoured, and his ghost 
delighted. 

It seems to have been a prevailing notion among many na- 
tions besides the Greeks, that men after death retain the same 
passions and appetites that distinguished them when living. 

Thus Virgil— 

" Quse gratia currus 

Armoramque fuit vivis, qua? cura nitentes 
Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos." 
" They who, alive, delighted in the car, 
Or lov'd to train the glossy steed to war, 
When now transported to a happier plain, 
Their former pleasures after death retain." m. 
The truth is, that, in their thoughts and reflections on the grave, 
mankind have ever had in view some idea of a consciousness 
that remains and lingers yet around the " pleasing anxious " 
solicitudes and scenes of the existence that is past. They have 
ever imagined to themselves a spirit after death, that busied it- 
self in protecting the fame and character of their lives, that was 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 369 

yet sensible of slights or honours paid to the grosser mass from 
which it had escaped : and the delicate Tibullus suffers himself 
to be so far led away by these ideas, that he has prescribed the 
very mode of burial, and the persons whom he wishes to appear 
as mourners at his funeral pile — 

" And when, a slender shade, I shall aspire 
From smouldering embers and the funeral fire, 
May sad Nesera to my pile repair, 
With tears (how precious !) and unbiaided hair, 
Mix'd with a mother's sighs her sorrows pour, 
And one a husband, one a child deplore ; 
With words of fond regret and broken sigh 
Please the poor shade that hov'ring lingers nigh, 
With pious rites my cherish'd bones adorn, 
(The last sad remnant of the man they mourn,) 
Nor spare my thirsting ashes to enshrine, 
W x ith purest milk bedew'd and purple wine ; 
And dry the shower by soft affection shed, 
Or ere they place them in their marble bed. 
In that sad house may every fragrance stor'd, 
That warm Assyria's perfum'd meads afford, 
And grief, from memory's tearful fount that flows, 
Soothe my charm'd spirit, and my bones compose!" b. 

May we be pardoned the introduction of one more passage, 
although from an English poet, in illustration of the same sub- 
ject ? It is from Herrick's " Hesperides," and breathes the ge- 
nuine spirit of a mind stored with classical imagery. 

" 'T will not be long, Perilla, after this 
That I must give thee the supremest kisse : 
Dead when I am, first cast in salt, and bring 
Part of the creame from that religious spring ; 
With which, Perilla, wash my hands and feet ; 
That done, then wind me in that verv sheet 



3/0 NOTES. 

Which wrapt thy smooth limbs, when thou didst implore 

The Gods' protection, but the night before, 

Follow me weeping, to my turfe, and there 

Let fall a primrose, and with it a teare : 

Then lastly let some weekly strewings be 

Devoted to the memory of me : 

So shall my ghost not walk about, but keep 

Still in the coole and silent shades of sleep." 

XXXIV. Ovk edares Hpurrj, fj.ere{3r}S & es ajxeivova yuipov. 
From Gruter's Inscriptions, 703 ; where it may be found 
elegantly rendered into Latin by Salvini — 

" Mortua non es, Prima ; loca in meliora migrasti " &c. 

Most of the reliques of Grecian poetry, which we possess, are 
of a cast of thought the most melancholy, whenever they touch 
on the mournful subjects of death and the grave. There are, 
nevertheless, a few (and this poem is among the number,) 
which present us with brighter prospects, and bring us nearer 
to the Elysium described by the more cheerful poets of Italy ; 
particularly by Virgil, in his 6th book, and by Tibullus, in that 
exquisitely beautiful passage, which our old traveller Sandys has 
thus, not unpoetically, rendered : 

" Love shall conduct me to the Elysian fields. 
There songs and dances revel ; choice birds fly 
From tree to tree, warbling sweet melody. 
The wild shrubs bring forth cassia ; every where 
The bounteous soyle doth fragrant roses bear ; 
Youths intermixt with maydes disport at ease, 
Encountering still in love's sweet skirmishes." 
But the peculiar turn of expression reminds us more closely 
of a passage in Shakspeare's "Titus Andronicus." 
" In peace and honour rest you here, my sons ! 
Rome's readiest champions, repose you here, 



UNCERTAIN AUTHORS. 37* 

Secure from worldly chances and mishaps ! 
Here lurks no treason ; here no envy swells ; 
Here grow no damned grudges ; here no storms, 
No noise ; but silence and eternal sleep. 
In peace and honour rest you here, my sons !" 

Nor has a more true and sublime Theology disdained to em- 
ploy the same glowing imagery in describing the unseen and 
ineffable joys of the Christian Heaven. So Massinger's Virgin 
Martyr — 

" There 's a perpetual spring, perpetual youth ; 
Nor joint-benumbing cold, nor scorching heat, 
Famine, nor age, have any being there. 
Forget, for shame, your Tempe ; bury in 
Oblivion your feign'd Hesperian orchards : — 
The golden fruit, kept by the watchful dragon, 
Which did require a Hercules to get it, 
Compar'd with what grows in all plenty there, 
Deserves not to be nam'd. The Power I serve, 
Laughs at your happy Araby, or the 
Elysian shades ; for he hath made his bowers 
Better in deed, than you can fancy yours." 



THE END. 



3/2 



FROM BYRON'S SIEGE OF CORINTH. 

(See note, p. 341. On Polystatus.) 

' Many a vanish' d year and age, 
And tempest's breath, and battle's rage, 
Have swept o'er Corinth ; yet she stands 
A fortress form'd to Freedom's hands. 
The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock, 
Have left untouch'd her hoary rock, 
The keystone of a land, which still, 
Though fall'n, looks proudly on that hill, 
The land-mark to the double tide 
That purpling rolls on either side, 
As if their waters chaf'd to meet, 
Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet. 
But could the blood before her shed 
Since first Timoleon's brother bled, 
Or baffled Persia's despot fled, 
Arise from out the earth which drank 
The stream of slaughter as it sank, 
That sanguine Ocean would o'erflow 
Her Isthmus idly spread below : 
Or could the bones of all the slain, 
Who perish'd there, be pil'd again. 
That rival pyramid would rise 
More mountain-like, through those clear skies, 
Than yon tower- capt Acropolis 
Which seems the very clouds to kiss." 



RICHARD TAYLOR, PRINTER. 



CORRIGENDA . 



Page vi, line 14, for Dr. Haygarth read Mr. William Haygarth, 
author of the poem entitled " Greece." 

33, — 3, for B. C. 353 read B. C. 553. 

71, — 9, "Well has the sculptor what he felt express'd." 

131, — 13, for 'Heart' read 'Haunt' of the Nymphs. 

133, for 'The Statue' read 'The Picture* of Venus Ana- 

dyomene. 

154, line 2, " Thy bow which erst," &c. 

159, — 14, for wattels read wattles. 

161, — 17, for met read meet. 

162, — 6, for Pleiad's read Pleiads'. 

203, — 7, " The sober souls may walk it if they please." 

205, — 15, "No other than Calliope." 

232, — 17, "Salute thee, May,— O loveliest of the year!" 

242, — 1, (214.) should be (298.) 

280, — 18, Zsv Biui' (without an intervening comma). 

332, — 7, lay Kvihiecu Kv^i^tmu. 

372, — 2, " PoLYSTRATUS." 



